–Adds Comments From Bild Interview On Consequences Of Eurozone Exit

FRANKFURT (MNI) – Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said an
exit from the Eurozone would be “catastrophic” for his country and could
have drastic consequences for other EMU members, according to an
interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung released Wednesday
evening.

Speaking prior to a whirlwind diplomatic tour ahead of his meeting
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Samaras criticized
German politicians who have spoken openly of Greece exiting the euro,
arguing that their comments complicate efforts to privatize state
assets.

“How should I privatize state industries? What businessman would
invest euros with us if he might get repaid in drachma?” Samaras told
the paper.

In a separate interview with Germany’s daily Bild Zeitung, Samaras
also suggested a Greek exit would be unlikely to stop contagion
spreading to other euro members. Some German politicians’ calls for an
exit were “not helpful at all,” he said.

“If a country is forced out of the euro, it would probably not be
the last – at least that is how financial markets would see it,” Samaras
cautioned.

Samaras told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung he would “guarantee
personally” that EMU aid provided to Greece will be paid back in full.
He repeated that Greece needs two more years to reach the 3% deficit-GDP
target, but again stressed that pushing the date to 2016 does not mean
Greece will need a third bailout.

Samaras stood by the government’s plan to cut E11.5 billion from
its budget in each of the next two years, but also insisted Greece
needed to pivot back towards restoring growth.

“I have never seen the country in such bad shape. We now only have
one path. We must change course and gear everything towards growth,” he
said.

Samaras said a Greek exit from the Eurozone would have serious
consequences for the continent, warning that social unrest could spread
and there could be a “tsunami” of illegal immigrants from Greece.

“An exit from the Eurozone would be catastrophic for us…it would
also be very bad for Europe,” Samaras said.

“The social unrest that such a situation would unleash in Greece
could infect other countries and unleash a deep trauma in Europe,” he
added. “Greece finds itself in such an exposed situation that it should
not be destabilized.”

In the Bild Zeitung interview, Samaras said he would like to invite
Chancellor Merkel to Greece at some point in the future.

“A visit by the chancellor to Greece could be very useful. I think
it should come to that soon,” he said.

— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: ccermak@mni-news.com

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