We won’t leave the euro, but it’s a good thing to have as a proposal

Nouriel Roubini, famous economist and known the world over as the "Cassandra of the markets", spoke earlier to a restricted event attended by members of the business and banking sectors, and insisted that the only solution for Greece is to exit the euro, go back to the drachma and if this is impossible, restructure the debt.

In particular, Roubini estimated that the only solution for the restoration of the Greek economy is the devaluation of our currency, which translates to an exit from the euro and a return to the drachma. However, he explained that this is not possible since it would presuppose withdrawal from the EU and he noted that in such a case, the devaluation would reach the 50% mark.

So the final solution for Greece is a controlled debt restructuring with a repayment period extension, as he himself has said.

Since the government has categorically rejected both of these scenarios, we wondered this morning about the meaning of Roubini’s meeting at Maximou with the PM and later on with the minister of Finance, Mr Yiorgos Papakonstantinou.

Government representative Yiorgos Petalotis gave the answer in the pressroom:

“Mr Roubini has a different opinion than ours. The PM wants to hear all opinions and suggestions. It’s fruitful and beneficial to have all these discussions”.

Which, translated freely, means that naturally we won’t exit the euro but it is fruitful for us to hear about it!

My conclusion is that the PM and the minister of Finance did not have anything better scheduled for today...