Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Greece: the Argentine solution


Ansgar Belke, a professor for macroeconomics and director of the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, said he is convinced that a resurrection like Argentina's is feasible for Greece.

"What happened in Argentina proves that it is possible for a country to come back after bankruptcy and once again play an important role on international financial markets," Belke said.

After a number of failed international monetary interventions, Argentina, which had been mired in unprecedented foreign debts, restructured its debt obligations.

"The growth rate in Argentina is remarkable when one considers what happened and the fact that there was no consensus between the creditors and the government in Buenos Aires," Belke said.

A significant debt restructure would symbolically and concretely strengthen the European Union in the long-term by giving it a sense of cohesion, Belke added.

"I always supported a restructure of debt in Greece," he said. "The damage would not be as grave as is commonly feared. Greece is a relatively small country. A restructure may stagger a few German and French banks, but this could be controlled with government loans. This scenario is more sensible than the massive credit that we're currently giving."

Under a restructuring plan, Belke said he could imagine Greece repaying about half its debts and re-establishing its creditworthiness.

"For Greece to just continue receiving government loans will result in too many disadvantages," Belke added.

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