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The election, expected on June 17, follows an inconclusive poll onMay 6 when a majority of Greeks expressed their opposition to theausterity measures which Athens agreed to in return for a massiveEU-IMF bailout late last year. "We are going again towards elections ... under very badconditions," Pasok party leader Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesdayafter the last-ditch talks failed. "The Greek people must now make the right decisions for the good ofthe country," stressed Venizelos, who supported the EU-IMF deal ina technocrat government formed last November. President Carolos Papoulias is due to meet party leaders at 1000GMT Wednesday to set up a caretaker administration to operate untilthe re-run polls, for which no date has yet been officiallyannounced. With no guarantee that the fresh vote will produce a viablegovernment, the prospects are for continued volatility anduncertainty over whether Greece's future in the single currencyclub. But Athens got top-level backing late Tuesday from Germany's AngelaMerkel and France's Francois Hollande, meeting for the first timejust hours after the new French president's inauguration. "We want Greece to stay in the euro," Merkel said at a joint pressconference with Hollande in Berlin. The German chancellor added that the two European powerhouses wereprepared "to study the possibility of additional growth measures inGreece" if Athens said they needed them. At the same time, Hollande, pushing for growth over more austerity,said he was prepared to "put everything on the table" at aforthcoming informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels on May 23,including the topic of eurobonds, which creates friction withGermany. International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde on Tuesdayraised the possibility that Greece could leave the eurozone, albeitin an orderly fashion. "If the country's budgetary commitments are not honoured, there areappropriate revisions to do, which means either supplementaryfinancing and additional time or mechanisms for an exit, which inthis case must be an orderly exit," Lagarde said in an interviewwith France 24. "It is something that would be extremely expensive and would posegreat risks but it is part of options that we must technicallyconsider," she said. Greece has "undertaken important reforms, they have made a certainnumber of sacrifices," Lagarde said. "To throw all of this awaybecause of profound political disagreements, it's really a shamefor the Greek people." Papoulias had called Tuesday's meeting to discuss, in the absenceof any other solution, a government of "distinguished andnon-political figures" which would defuse the impasse over theEU-IMF austerity measures. Figures Tuesday showing the Greek economy slumped a massive 6.2percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, fuellingthe argument that the austerity policy is simply not working andthe emphasis must turn to growth. The response to the talks breakdown on the financial markets wasimmediate, with European and US stocks turning lower and the euroslumping below $1.28, levels not seen since January. At around 2200 GMT Tuesday the euro was at $1.2728 compared to$1.2823 Monday in US trading. Asia opened Wednesday still in negative mood, with shares in HongKong down 1.20 percent at the open. The push lower came as more analysts and traders were takingseriously the prospect that Greece would exit the eurozone whateverhappens in new polls. Mike McCudden at Interactive Investor said Greece posed a problemof contagion for other weaker eurozone members, namely Spain andItaly, as Europe sees "a general backlash against austeritymeasures.". I am an expert from custom-textileprinting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Custom Printed Cycling Jerseys Manufacturer , Custom Drawstring Bags, Custom Printed Aprons,and more.
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