Dijsselbloem says IMF departure from Greek program would signal default

Dutch polician addressed his country’s parliament

The President of the EuroGroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed the view that Greece would default if the IMF left the bailout program. During a speech before the Dutch parliament Mr. Dijsselbloem warned that those who claimed Greece would be better off leaving the commonc currency area had no idea what they were talking about. According to Dutch newspaper Financieele, Mr. Dijsselbloem stressed both the European Commission’s and the IMF’s efforts were directed at averting such a prospect. “My job is to stabilise the situation in Greece. This is in the interest of all of us”, he said in parliament, according to the newspaper. The head of the EuroGroup added that those floating such an idea were overlooking the huge impact a possible Grexit would have both economically and politically. It should be noted that during the discussion in the Dutch parliament, the Greens supported a partial write-off of the Greek debt that would result in a 90% to GDP ratio. On the matter of a possible Greek debt haircut, Mr. Dijsselbloem pointed out that such an option was currently off the table, claiming that apart from the Germany and the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal also opposed it.