Latvia finance minister demands immediate Grexit
Latvia's finance minister Andris Vilks is demanding Greece's exit from the eurozone as quickly as possible.
Latvia’s finance minister Andris Vilks is demanding Greece’s exit from the eurozone as quickly as possible.
Sweden’s Dagens Industri reports that Vilks made the comment on Latvian local radio following the failure of Greek politicians yesterday to agree some €12bn in savings over the next two years.
He said it must be made clear that it is not possible to maintain the delusion that Greece can stay in the eurozone.
“One ought to as soon as possible find a way to throw Greece out of the eurozone with as little damage as possible. My personal solution would be to do this as quickly as possible.”
Latvia still intends to join the eurozone during 2014.
Vilks previously served as chief economist for Swedish bank SEB’s Latvian bank SEB banka, and as special economic adviser to the then Latvian prime minister.
In 2009 he gave a lecture on the economic realities facing the Baltic region, which then had gong through significant economic crisis in the wake of the global credit crunch and recession, but also outlined reasons why he thought they could recover.
That lecture is available here: http://videolectures.net/ceemanac09_vilks_per/
