Former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufaks revealed that there was a Plan X for the case that Greece would have been kicked out of the eurozone. Speaking to private Skai TV about the long and winding road of the negotiations with the European nand the IMF creditors in the first half of 2015, Varoufakis outlined the main point of the so-called Plan X: Default to ECB debt and introduction of a parallel currency, like IOYs.
” I advised Tsipras to put the plan, which would see Greece defaulting on 27 billion euros in Greek government bonds held by the European Central Bank, into action as soon as he called a referendum at the end of June,” Varoufakis said.
According to the ex FinMin, it was Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who had instructed Varoufakis instructed to put together a small team of people to draw up a plan for introducing a parallel currency if Greece was unable to reach an agreement with its lenders on a new bailout. A parallel currency would have led to shortages in food and medicine.
“Among the issues examined by Varoufakis and his advisers were how the country would continue to have access to medicines, fuel and food under such circumstances.”
But at the end of the day, beginning of July, Tsipras rejected Varoufakis’ plan.
Among others, Varoufakis also revealed that there was an atypical agreement with China to lend to Greece 5 billion USD. But this plan never came to materialize “after Berlin intervened with a phone call to Beijing,” Varoufakis said.
Yanis Varoufakis said that he became frustrated with Tsipras when the prime minister agreed to a primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP for the coming years, saying that he thought this goal was “macroeconomically impossible.” Tsipras told him that he agreed in return for receiving debt relief.
Varoufakis admitted that he “failed” during his time in office. “I carry a great responsibility,” he said. “I would do a lot of things differently.” (more on ekathimerini).
Varoufakis said also that he was recording all the minutes of the Eurogroup meetings – with the exception of the first one – and that he gave his recordings to his successors.
On Wednesday morning, Greece’s opposition demanded Governmental confirmation on what Varoufakis claimed, the government refrained from confirm or dismiss and thus tried to downplay Varoufakis claims pointing out to the “credibility of the ex FinMin.”
Also Berlin refrained from commenting that the Merkel government had intervened.
I watched a big part of Varoufakis’ 2-hour interview and it was indeed quite interesting. It looked that a part fo Greece’s European “partners” was determined to kick the country out of the eurozone and for this purpose they used all possible and impossible means of balckmailing. At one point Varoufakis said that “Draghi had told him that the ECB was to stop providing liquidity to Greek banks.”
Of course, one wonders why the ex Finance Minister feels the need to keep repeating his own role in the negotiations, and play Blame Game with Tsipras.
Oh, the Ex Greek FinMin is to launch his Pan-European Movement beginning of February.
PS does he need supporters for his failed policy plans?.
A PARALLEL CURRRENCY WOULD NOT HAVE LED TO ANY SHORTAGES
CURRENCY / MONEY IS JUST AN EXCHANGE AND NOTHING MORE
THE BLACK MARKET GLOBALLY USES SEVERAL ALTERNATIVE CURRENCY’S
THEY WORK PERFECTLY WELL – AND IT DOES NOT THE SUPPORT OF ANY GOVERNMENT OR BANKING SYSTEM – AND YET IT IS MORE STABLE THAN MAINSTREAM CURRENCY.
VAROUFAKIS NEEDS TO WRITE FAIRY STORIES FOR CHILDREN – PERHAPS.