Eurogroup head dismisses talk of Greek exit from euro "nonsense"

Xinhua, May 15, 2012

Eurogroup head late Monday strongly refuted the talk of Greece leaving the euro area and hinted at the possibility of softening some of the terms in the bailout program if the country reaffirms its commitments to the rescue plan.

"I don't envisage, not even for one second, Greece leaving the euro area. This is nonsense, this is propaganda," Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said at a press conference after nearly seven hours of talks of eurozone finance ministers.

Juncker, also Luxembourg's prime minister, denied speculations that the finance ministers' meeting was devoted to the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro, saying that, "Absolutely no one, absolutely no one, argued in that sense."

The comments came as Greece's political parties were still struggling to form a coalition government eight days after about 70 percent of Greek voters supported anti-bailout parities in an inconclusive election.

Juncker said Greece had no alternative but to respect the terms, including a series of structural reforms and austerity measures, of the 130-billion-euro (about 167 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program agreed with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund earlier this year.

However, he suggested that the international lenders would soften some of the terms and might consider extending the period for Greece to meet the deficit targets set in the bailout plan if "there were to be dramatic changes in the circumstances."

He called upon Greece's political parties to overcome differences and form a government without delay, stressing that the possible coalition government must back the bailout plan.

"We need a Greek government, the Greek government would have to make clear it was fully committed to the program, and then if there were exceptional circumstances, we wouldn't exclude the possibility of discussing this issue," Juncker said.