Bailout Just The Start

EFORE the ink was even dry on the latest Greek bailout, the sceptics were decrying the 130-billion (R1,4-trillion) deal as no better than a sticking plaster for a patient who is terminally ill.

Athens may now be able to pay off the 14.5bn due in mid-march, they say, but the remission has been bought at a price that the country will not be able to pay. Better to pull the plug and let Greece drop out of the single currency.

It is an argument that sounds plausible, but is missing the point. Indeed, to ask whether the latest bailout will be enough is to start from the faulty premise that there is a resolution to the euro crisis available.

The question is not whether the latest deal can solve Greece’s problems, but rather how to make best use of the breathing space it has created.

A bailout for Greece was but one part of the threedimensional chess game. There is no short-cut route to saving Europe from economic meltdown. Only by buying time for Greece can there be a chance of putting together a lasting solution to the euro’s problems. Buying time is, therefore, no bad thing.

It is far too simplistic to claim Greece’s exit from the euro to be inevitable. But it will take more than fiscal discipline to ensure that the Greek people can bear the price of remaining. The latest bailout was only ever the beginning. – The Independent

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