?Against all odds, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is working hard to ensure that the Greek economy recovers. To reduce Greece's deficit from 9.3 to 3 percent in the next two years, he is about to initiate $14.6 billion in spending cuts. If Samaras's desperate attempt fails, Greece could be forced out of the Eurozone -in which the Euro is the currency.
Many believe that the Prime Minister's efforts will indeed be futile, including major international financial conglomerate Citi. Citi's analysis stated in a report, "A combination of creditor fatigue and austerity fatigue will lead Greece to exit the euro area with a probability of 90% in the next 12-18 months."
Further information on Greece's financial status is about be revealed by Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB). Their inspectors are preparing a progress report about Greece and its reforms. Citi had said that it expects the report will recommend the prevention of further funds for Greece, beyond a first rescue loan in the amount of $152 billion and a second bailout at $172 billion.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier stated she didn't want to see Greece forced out, but pointed out the need for maintaining austerity. Citi reported on this as well and stated, “However, as we argued before, this is unlikely to be a cart-blanche for the future: unless Greece meets the agreed requirements, Germany will not be willing to keep the country in the Euro. The attempt to delay the decision on Greece further looks reasonable to us and we expect that the ECB will tolerate a further expansion of the ELA by the Greek Central Bank.”
