The inability of the eurozone to put together a viable package after a month of talks has dismayed markets, which thought the terms of a deal had already been agreed. Yields on 10-year Greek bonds spiked 17 basis points yesterday to 6.26pc. The euro fell two cents against the dollar to below $1.36. “The facade of unity among eurozone members hardly held for more than a day,” said Beat Siegenthaler from UBS.
Greek Premier George Papandreou told the European Parliament that his country was running out of patience. It is in effect already subject to the full rigours of an IMF-style austerity plan but without enjoying any of the benefits. He said the savings from cost-cutting measures were vanishing into the pockets of bond-holders through higher interest rates.
“We have the worst of the IMF and none of the advantages. This is where Europe must come in and provide what the IMF can offer. Or Greece will have to go to the IMF. We hope that will not be necessary,” he said.
“I prefer a European solution as part of the eurozone, to show the world that Europe can act together. This is not to ask for money but to have an instrument on the table to stop the speculation. We expect the EU to live up to the challenge facing it. We are a eurozone country,” he said. Hungary was better off with a “free currency”, able to work with the IMF outside the eurozone.
“Papandreou is playing poker,” said Silvio Peruzzi from RBS. The defiant tone leaves no doubt that this escalating game of brinkmanship has turned deadly serious. If Mr Papandreou is bluffing, his bluff is likely to be called since a German-led bloc of states is also warming to the IMF as the best way after all to maintain EMU discipline.
Such a course enables Chancellor Angela Merkel to avoid a legal battle at Germany’s top court over breach of the EU’s `no-bail-out’ clause; it avoids a deeply unpopular decision before the regional elections in May; and it leaves the Fund’s experienced fiscal police in charge of austerity.
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