A Greek exit from the euro would be a big surprise. To say it is Poul Thomsen, head of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund, during a conference as part of the spring work of the IMF underway in Washington: “We don't expect Greece to leave the euro. Athens wants to stay and to do so, it will take any necessary action".
In any case, Thomson underlined, "the immediate risk of contagion would depend on the response of the European authorities and today Europe is in a much better position than in the past". However, Thomsen admitted that current growth estimates for Greece are greatly exaggerated. "I don't have detailed information on liquidity" from Greece, but between June, July and August the amount of payments that Athens will have to make will increase significantly and "an agreement will be needed first", Thomsen said.
Furthermore, looking at the whole continent, Thomsen said that Europe's economic outlook is "more balanced and Quantitative Easing could generate stronger growth in Europe, but there are also downside risks coming from the conflict in Ukraine".
