US President Donald Trump’s pick for Ambassador to the EU, Ted Malloch said Greece would need a new program under the IMF if the country left the Eurozone. Speaking on Ant-1 TV’s nightly news bulletin, Mr. Malloch reiterated his opinion that Greece should abandon the common currency union and draw up its own fiscal and monetary policy, claiming the best way to go about it would be to avoid clashing with the European creditors, which would mean agreeing to a new bailout plan with the IMF to regain its economic independence and receive credit from the international markets. “The problem is self-evident. The austerity program has simply not worked”, he said. Mr. Malloch argued the hard Euro currency was causing political instability in EU member-states that did not share in the benefits of the Euro. He predicted that the Euro and US dollar exchange rate would soon be on parity and the European common currency area would dwindle. On him being called a “persona non grata” by EU officials, he labeled the characterisation excessive and heavy. He underlined that Trump was not someone to be told what to do.
