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Economist: Time has come for restructuring of the debt

15 January 2011 / 17:01:40  GRReporter
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The time has come for the restructuring of the debts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, said in their latest edition the specialists from the Economist. According to them, it is clear that Plan A, which involves the allocation of financial rescue packages against the introduction of stringent economic reforms in countries with high foreign debt and budget deficit has failed. Now it's time for plan B - restructuring the debt of the troubled countries, so as for the crisis to be limited only in them and not to drag into the pit of bankruptcy the entire eurozone.

The analysis says that the original idea for the handling this, which was born by the Memorandum of financial aid for Greece in the spring of 2010 was failed by the controversy within the eurozone itself. The rescue mechanism implemented first in Greece and then in the Irish case, ensured funding of troubled countries in the short term but in the medterm these countries must restructure their foreign debt if they are unable to stand back on their feet. Uncertainty about who will ultimately declare bankruptcy, makes investors nervous. Instead of regaining the trust, it has a counterproductive effect and it further raises the cost of lending to these countries on free markets.

According to the analysis of the issue the attempt to save the fragile economies of the eurozone was mandatory but it hasn’t brought the desired effect. Now the time has come, in which the restructuring of debts of the weakest countries will be the lesser of the two harms because it will reduce the serious economic consequences within only a few countries at the periphery of the Union. The first reason lies in the lack of willingness of the rich countries to finance the economies of the eurozone members in trouble in the long term, so as to firmly reduce their foreign debts. The Euro bonds on the other hand would not be able to accumulate the necessary funds to firmly resolve the problems of financing in these countries.

The second reason is that now the countries members of the eurozone and the IMF made an effort to avoid the bankruptcy of Greece through the rescue package of 110 billion euro. Markets, however, remain nervous which changes the picture and called for the restructuring of the debt as a necessity. For the eight months, during which operated the rescue program European banks had time to regroup their forces, to raise more funds and sell some of the bonds of the troubled countries to the European Central Bank. From the Economist experts are adamant that if European leaders play cards right, the restructuring of the foreign debts of Greece and Ireland, will not couse the well known from the bankruptcy Lehman Brothers chaos.

"The more we delay the restructuring (of the foreign debt to Greece-BA.), the more severe it will be both for the owners of government bonds and for taxpayers in the heart of the eurozone," says the publication. Rescue programs in operation in Greece and Ireland have increased the size of their public debt, but have reduced the private foreign debt, ie creditors of these countries are in their majority part of the European governments. This means that in 2015 Greece will not be able to reduce its foreign debt even if it wipes out its crediting by private investors.

The solution is for Greece to reduce its foreign debt in half, Ireland by one third and the European Central Bank should be ready to help countries such as Belgium, Italy and Spain, where appropriate. Restructuring of the foreign debts would be sufficient to return the euro economies on the path of sustainable development, but Plan B requires political courage and agility is the conclusion of the economic analysts of the edition.

Tags: economy Economist foreign debt Greece crisis restructuring
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