Greeks are
heading to the polls Sunday, for the third time this year. And once again,
Europe is holding its breath. The election result is too close to call and
neither of the main parties -- left-wing Syriza and conservative New Democracy
-- are likely to win a clear majority in parliament.
Greece needs a government to deal with its
economic crisis, keep the bailout on track, and cope with the challenge of
thousands of refugees flocking to its shores. An inconclusive election result
could mean delay in forming a coalition, or worse, yet another election.
Unless a new government gets to work
quickly, Greece risks being unable to get more money from Europe. That would
leave it unable to pay 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion) it owes to the
International Monetary Fund later this year. "Greece is not sustainable
and the big issues are how far the program will go off track and how many
eurozone members will join Germany in viewing missed targets as no longer a
price worth paying," said Gabriel Sterne, the head of global macro
research at Oxford Economics.
The rescue agreed in July with Europe, worth
up to 86 billion euros ($97 billion), prevented financial collapse and kept
Greece in the euro. But the IMF says Greece desperately needs
"substantial" debt relief. Without it, the country may once again
find itself unable to pay its bills in the long term.
Europe has been unwilling to talk about
that, saying the first review of Greece's economic reforms must come first. The
longer that is delayed, the greater the pressure on Greek finances. All the
while, the Greek economy sinks deeper into the mire. "We've seen a big
drop in economic sentiment, we've seen big drops in imports and exports, so
there's likely to be a big slowdown in the economy," Raoul Ruparel, a
director of Open Europe, told CNN. Greek GDP is expected to shrink by 2.3% this
year and by 1.3% next year. Unemployment stands at 25%, and real wages are
declining.
Πηγή:
money.cnn.com
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου