Before the Greek government agreed to their creditors’ demands, there were plans in the works to switch the currency exchange from the euro in a “flick of a button.” The man with his finger on the button, former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, is awaiting treason charges despite claims that his plan was approved by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Varoufakis explained the plan to a group of London investors this week. The contingency would go into place if all else failed, allowing the issuing of drachmas to replace the euros. This revelation came from a transcript of the meeting leaked to Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
“The prime minister, before we won the election in January, had given me the green light to come up with a Plan B. And I assembled a very able team, a small team as it had to be because that had to be kept completely under wraps for obvious reasons,” he said.
Such a maneuver would have likely worsened the situation, propelling Greece down a path of no return that would have alienated them from the rest of Europe. There is a chance that it would have allowed for outside help to enter, though the United States would likely not have participated. China or Russia, on the other hand, may have been the only other viable options. That would have been the hope, though even that would have been unlikely at this point.
According to The Telegraph:
He said the EU authorities may have to dip further into the European Commission’s stabilisation fund (EFSM), drawing Britain deeper into the controversy since it is a contributor. By the end of the year it will be clear that tax revenues are falling badly short of targets – he said – and the Greek public ratio will be shooting up towards 210pc of GDP.
Read more on The Telegraph.