Handelsblatt: Greece needs third bailout in order to avoid default

Germany’s biggest Business Daily says possibility of Greece leaving eurozone has not been excluded

Today’s Eurogroup meeting is Greece’s last chance to avoid default and a possible Grexit, according to certain press reports out of Germany, with one particularly high-pitch article claiming that Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis seeks to “blackmail” the country’s European partners by warning of a referendum or snap elections if the latest SYRIZA government plan is not approved.

According to most German media, the Greek state is going to run out of cash in a few days, while Frankfurter Allgmeine Zeitung warns that the country is already in disarray. For Bild newspaper, default is a matter of time…

Although Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras continues to categorically reject the notion of a third bailout for Greece, Handelsblatt, citing German economists, said Athens must accept new aid to avoid default.

In fact, Germany’s biggest Business Daily mentions in an article that the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone has not been excluded and is still on the table.

The same article adds that because Greece faces the danger of bankruptcy in March, Athens clings to a specific contingency plan. However, the European Central Bank has set its limits clearly before today’s Eurogroup meeting in Brussels. On its part, the EC insists that Athens should commit to new reforms. However, even in that case there are serious doubts as to whether the new government can cope.

According to leading German economists, Greeks must accept a third bailout.

“Even if the fifth round of assessment of the Greek economy and reforms is successfully completed by the end of April and the international community releases the 7-billion-euro tranche, it will still be difficult for Greece to repay the two bonds, worth billions of dollars, in July”, according to the chief economist at Commerzbank, Jörg Krämer, who was quoted on the online edition of Handelsblatt.