Osborne warns Greece-Eurozone standoff poses 'greatest risk to global economy'
George Osborne has warned that the impasse between the Eurozone and Greece poses “the greatest risk to the global economy”.
On Monday, the chancellor met Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s finance minister, who is visiting Europe in a bid to win support from Eurozone members.
“We had a constructive discussion, and it is clear that the standoff between Greece and the Eurozone is the greatest risk to the global economy,” Osborne said.
“I urge the Greek finance minister to act responsibly but it’s also important that the Eurozone has a better plan for jobs and growth.
“It is a rising threat to the British economy. And we have got to make sure that in Europe, as in Britain, we choose competence over chaos.”
Following the meeting, the Greek finance minister said he agreed with his British counterpart over the need of stop describing Greece like a weight burdening the rest of the continent.
“[We have] a determination to put an end to the extended pretence cycle which has rendered Greece a festering wound on the side of the Eurozone,” Varoufakis was quoted as saying by Channel 4 News.
The newly-appointed minister has said that he aims to produce plans for a reworked debt deal by March and has appointed US investment bank Lazard to advise on Greece’s negotiations about its debt, which stands at over 175% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The European Union’s current bailout deal expires on 28 February but analysts expect the deadline to be extended, which would see Greek banks continue to receive financial aid from the European Central Bank.
“We are in substantial negotiations with our partners in Europe and those that have lent to us,” Greece’s new prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, said at a press conference.
“We have obligations towards them,”