Wieser: Greek crisis in 2015 actually cost country 200 bln€ in damages

Former Euro Working Group (EWG) head Thomas Wieser on Monday struck again in relation to the Greek crisis era, especially during the “annus horribilis ” of 2015, saying he estimates total damages for the country from the shambolic negotiations between Athens and creditors during the first half of the year at double than previous believed, namely, 200 billion euros.

Wieser, who stepped down as EWG president last month, was quoted by the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant as saying that an estimate by ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling of 100 billion euros in damages – related to the six-month tenure of controversial ex-FinMin Yanis Varoufakis – was actually double that figure.

“It probably cost double (in damages): the economic shrinkage, distrust by investors, the hits taken by Greek banks. But it wasn’t only Varoufakis, all of the Greek government bears responsibility,” he said.

The Austrian economist added that no one tried to undermine Greece, the victim of policies and omissions by successive Greek governments, as he noted.
Asked further, he said he authored a plan, code-named “Z”, for the possibility of a Grexit as far back as 2012, while adding that a possible exit from the Euro zone in 2015 was greater than in 2012, “although the consequences in 2012 would have been more dramatic.”