FRANKFURT (MNI) – Germany’s preparations for a possible Greek exit
from the Eurozone are more intense than previously known, the German
daily Financial Times Deutschland reported Friday, citing sources in the
finance ministry.
According to the report, the finance ministry has created a special
working group under the leadership of state secretary Thomas Steffen.
The group is made up of about ten people across all levels of hierarchy
in the ministry and meets on a regular basis, the FTD said.
Steffen, who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party,
is in close contact with the chancellery on the issue, the paper added.
“The colleagues are calculating the financial consequences and
deliberating on how a domino effect in other Euro countries can be
prevented,” the paper cited ministry sources as saying.
According to the report, it remains the ministry’s priority to keep
Greece and other debt-troubled countries in the Eurozone, but it wants
to be prepared for possible adverse scenarios that could bring Spain,
Italy, Portugal and possibly even France under financial market
pressure.
“There is a task force that is dealing primarily with the debt
crisis. In this context, Mr. Steffen is accountable to the [finance]
minister,” a spokesperson of the ministry told the paper. The
spokesperson added that the government is preparing for all scenarios,
including unlikely ones.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: jtreeck@mni-news.com
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