Greek PM tears into lenders, euro zone prepares for 'Grexit'

Tue Jun 16, 2015 1:46pm EDT Related: GREECE

ATHENS/BERLIN | BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS AND ERIK KIRSCHBAUM

Reuters

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras lashed out at Greece's creditors on Tuesday, accusing them of trying to "humiliate" Greeks, as he defied a drumbeat of warnings that Europe is preparing for his country to leave the euro.

The unrepentant address to lawmakers after the collapse of talks with European and IMF lenders at the weekend was the clearest sign yet that the leftist leader has no intention of making a last-minute U-turn and accepting austerity cuts needed to unlock frozen aid and avoid a debt default within two weeks.

Financial markets, for months indifferent to wrangling over releasing billions of euros of aid for Greece, reacted with mounting alarm.

European stock markets hit their lowest level since February and the risk premium on bonds of other vulnerable euro zone states leapt in one of the sharpest episodes of contagion since the height of Europe's debt crisis in 2012.

As the Austrian chancellor flew to Athens to warn Tsipras of the gravity of the situation and senior German lawmakers openly discussed the once-taboo prospect of a "Grexit" from the single currency area, Tsipras lambasted European and IMF policy.

"I'm certain future historians will recognize that little Greece, with its little power, is today fighting a battle beyond its capacity not just on its own behalf but on behalf of the people of Europe," he said in a televised speech to legislators in his Syriza party, drawing rousing applause.

Tsipras charged that the lenders were politically motivated in demanding pension cuts and tax hikes that hurt the poor, and their aim was to "humiliate not only the Greek government - this would be the least important - but humiliate an entire people".

The 40-year-old leader's rhetoric left unclear whether he is preparing to default and risk economic collapse as the price of standing firm, or betting - wrongly according to the creditors - on a last-minute effort by Europe to save Greece.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has held repeated phone calls with Tsipras in recent weeks to press him to agree on reforms with EU/IMF negotiators, struck a despondent note, saying it was unclear if a deal could be found when euro zone finance ministers meet on Thursday in Luxembourg.

"Unfortunately, there is little new to report," she told a news conference, repeating that Greece must meet its obligations. "I have always said I want to do everything possible to keep Greece in the euro zone. I remain dedicated to that."

DEFAULT, GREXIT LOOM

Greece is set to default on a 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30 unless it receives fresh funds by then, possibly driving it toward the exit of the euro zone.

That could begin if the government had to impose capital controls to stem a bank run and was obliged to pay wages, pensions and suppliers in IOUs because of a shortage of euros.

Lawmakers in Merkel's conservative party and her center-left coalition partners were more blunt than the chancellor in warning that a Greek euro zone exit was on the cards.

"In the event a solid reform package is not presented, then a 'Grexit' would have to be accepted if necessary," said Michael Grosse-Broemer, a senior lawmaker in Merkel's Christian Democrats. "I'm not so sure anymore if the Greek government is really interested in averting damage for the people of Greece."

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila, whose country is among the most hawkish creditors, said it would take "a miracle" to reach a solution next week, but that was still everyone's aim.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said publicly that euro zone members were discussing what might happen if Greece failed to agree on a deal with lenders.

The bloc has no legal basis for forcing a country out, but Athens might end up with a de facto parallel currency, paving the way for a more formal exit from the euro.

Though all sides - Athens and the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - want to avoid such a scenario, all have dug themselves into entrenched positions blaming the other side for the collapse of talks at last weekend.

Euro zone officials from the Eurogroup Working Group were due to take stock of the impasse in a conference call at 11 a.m. EDT ahead of Thursday's ministerial meeting.

EU officials denied reports that any emergency summit of euro zone leaders was being planned for next Sunday. If anything, the Eurogroup finance ministers might meet again.

"There should be no illusions that an agreement will become easier, or more advantageous over time or at the level of heads of state and government," said one euro zone official.

With feverish speculation gripping markets, officials denied a report in German daily Bild that Athens was planning to delay the June 30 payment to the IMF by six months. Officials earlier denied a Sueddeutsche Zeitung story that preparations were under way for capital controls to be imposed as early as next weekend.

CLOSE TO LIMITS

There was little sign of public panic in Athens, but increasingly worried leaders of pro-euro opposition parties sought briefings from Tsipras and implored him to strike a deal swiftly to prevent an economic collapse.

"I called on the prime minister to consider that the Greek economy is desperately close to its limits," Stavros Theodorakis, leader of the centrist To Potami party, the fourth-biggest in parliament said after meeting the prime minister.

He said Tsipras had assured him there were still "two or three" steps Athens could take to break the deadlock in the talks, provided the creditors also gave ground. The 17 lawmakers Theodorakis commands would vote for any deal in parliament that kept Greece in the euro, he added.

Faced with a backlash within Syriza over concessions sought by the lenders, the support of parties like Potami and the center-left PASOK could prove crucial for Tsipras in voting through any deal.

Syriza, however, has ruled out such an option, saying an agreement must pass with the support of its own lawmakers.

Tsipras also met the new leader of PASOK as well as Dora Bakoyianni, a prominent figure of the conservative New Democracy party on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he receives Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, who said he had coordinated with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the visit and hoped to head off a Greek exit from the euro.

(Additional reporting by Michael Shields in Vienna and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Writing by James Mackenzie and Deepa Babington; Editing by Paul Taylor)