Anders Borg Predicts Greek Default

Anders Borg, finance minister of Sweden, today predicts that the attempts to save Greece from bankruptcy probably will fail.

In an interview with Swedish Broadcasting to be aired Thursday morning, Mr Borg says:
“The most probable outcome is that you end up with some kind of default in Greece”.

In an English version of the interview he says: 
“Obviously there is a big risk that Greece in the end of the day will be going into some kind of default situation”.

According to Anders Borg, the risk of default is obvious, even if Greece gets an extension of the time frames agreed in the memorandum between Greece and its lenders and all the targets are met. Such negotiations are opened in Athens this afternoon, when Prime Minister Samaras meets the top representatives of the lender group – the Troika. The target of Greece reaching a debt/GDP ratio of 120 percent 2020 (or maybe 2022 if time frame is prolonged) is way to high for a country in the situation of Greece, Mr Borg says to Swedish Broadcasting:

“A 120 percent debt level is rarely sustainable, particularly not in a country with very weak growth prospects”, Mr Borg says.

Mr Borg points out that Greek governments so far have failed in fulfilling the reforms agreed with the lenders.

Asked if a default would mean an exit from the Eurozone, Mr Borg answers: 
“Obviously, they only have harsh alternatives. They could either do this by building up better prospects for the future inside the euro, or at the end of the day, they might choose to leave”.

Audio file of the interview in english is attached in this e-mail. 

The english interview is also published on: 
www.sverigesradio.se/nyheter 
www.radiosweden.org

Anders Borg is interviewed by Staffan Sonning, Economic Correspondent of Swedish Broadcasting.

For more information, please contact: 

Staffan Sonning
Economic  Correspondent
Swedish Broadcasting
Mobile: +46 730 567101

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