Greece warned of bleak future with euro exit
19 May 2012
In the hard times that Greece finds itself in, growing numbers of the homeless in Athens are on the streets and soup kitchens are struggling to feed twice the number of people they did a year ago.
Greece is struggling hard to meet austerity targets set by creditors, but analysts say this may be only a foretaste of the nightmare of unrest, hunger and even anarchy that the debt-crippled nation may find itself in if it is forced out of the euro.
Though the economic impact of such an exit may not be fully clear at the moment analysts fear, with newly issued drachmas, devalued by up to 70 per cent, runaway inflation, a banking meltdown, a collapse in trade – what may be in store for Greeks crushed by the debt crisis might be extremely hard to predict.
If the cash for a bailout does not come through, there may be no salaries and pensions and violence, political extremism and uncontrolled emigration could quickly follow.
After elections that proved inconclusive, in which parties opposed to foreign-imposed austerity, including the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, put up a good showing. Greeks will go to polls again in a month's time. This election is being seen internationally as a referendum on the single currency, though Greeks do not view it in the same way.
The "Grexit", a term coined by some economists for a Greek exit from the 17-nation euro, once regarded as unthinkable, now runs the risk of turning the nation into a near failed state on the edge of the EU, one of the most affluent societies the world has ever known.
Greece's food imports account for around 40 per cent of its consumption. It also imports almost all its oil and natural gas and much of its medicine. Some analysts have clearly warned that there could be trouble ahead.
