“Still an enormous amount of work to do on Greece.” IMF Chief Christine Lagarde

European Finance Ministers met in Brussels on Monday to discuss new reform proposals Greece put forward on Sunday however the meeting broke up with International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde saying “there is still an enormous amount of work to do on Greece.”

Since 2011 Austerity programs put in place by the Greek Government has meant 30% of government workers have lost their jobs. If the IMF and EU Ministers allow Greece to fail and leave the Euro Zone it simply answers the question that many have been asking. Has the introduction of the common currency been a success? I believe the answer based on economic performance has to be no. Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus have officially gone belly up and if Greece continues to cause stress amongst European nations then I hardly think anyone could argue the Euro has been a success. It may have been a good thing for Germany and some however overall I think if you asked the original crop of nations that started in the common currency if they’d prefer their old currencies the answer would be yes. 

Greece shows that you can be a failed economy, snub your nose at the rest of Europe who has propped you up and still remain in the Euro. Sadly the Euro has been a failure and the continued challenges that it faces seemingly every few months are proof of that. 19 Nations with their own self-interests, 19 Nations with independent economies with their own challenges, cultures, governments and central banks to deal with and 19 Nations with political figures at the top, middle and bottom that will continue to act with complete self interest.

Chancellor Angela Merkel holds more power in this negotiation than virtually anyone else with Germany being the largest financial contributor outside of the IMF and ECB and whilst many investors believe Europe will be a better place without Greece in the Euro Merkel doesn’t want to be the Chancellor who sinks Greece’s economy into the depths of despair. The amount of money that it will take to keep Greece afloat is likely peanuts compared to the challenges that could lie ahead for Europe if Greece turns to Russia for assistance or worse still it falls into a fail state.

20% of all funds on deposit in Greek banks have now been removed and I can only imagine if Greece defaults and the IMF and ECB walk away from the negotiation table how many Greek citizens will want to leave Greece only adding more weight to the rest of Europe’s bulging immigration concerns.


LTG GoldRock Members received the full report this morning in their Goldrock Insider Report.