Stock Incubator

[dalcindo]

Article - Soros: "Euro's future in question even if Greece rescued"

(Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61L0CQ20100222 )

2:02am EST

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A makeshift assistance should be enough to rescue Greece but bigger problems facing Europe would leave the future of the euro currency in question, billionaire investor George Soros said.

Writing in the Financial Times, Soros said what the European Union needed was more intrusive monitoring and institutional arrangements for conditional assistance. He said a well organized eurobond market was desirable.

"A makeshift assistance should be enough for Greece, but that leaves Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland. Together they constitute too large of a portion of euroland to he helped in this way," Soro said.

"The survival of Greece would still leave the future of the euro in question."

Greece's deficit swelled to 12.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, way above the EU's cap of 3 percent. Greece has pledged to reduce its budget deficit to 8.7 percent in 2010.

On Saturday, a magazine reported Germany's finance ministry has sketched out a plan in which countries using the euro currency will provide aid worth between 20 billion and 25 billion euros ($27-$33.7 billion) for Greece.

(Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

© Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.

Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

- Dalcindo