Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff (photo) said on Wednesday that Greece and Ireland will need to restructure their debts, and Spain and Portugal may do the same to survive Eurozone’s dent crisis, according to Bloomberg.
“I do think the eventual restructuring of two or three countries — Greece, Ireland, Portugal — is inevitable,” Rogoff said at an event at the German Finance Ministry in Berlin. It “may be called something else, for face- saving reasons.”
European Union leaders will meet this month to find a solution to fight the debt crisis, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel is opposed to lowering interest rates on aid or strengthening of Eurozone’s rescue facility.
“It’s inescapable to have public and/or private debt restructured in all four countries” of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, Rogoff said. “The risk of waiting too long is that it gets bigger and it costs you more.”
Greece leaving the euro region “would be a sensible solution but I don’t think it will happen”, Rogoff said. “It’s not on the table, but I think a default will be difficult to avert”, he added, according to Bloomberg.
“If Spain were to have a restructuring of central government debt, I don’t think it would end there” and countries including Belgium and others would be affected, professor Rogoff said. “Spain is just too big.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
