Germany Determined To Keep Eurozone Together: Finance Minister

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has once again affirmed his nation’s desire to keep Greece in the eurozone, despite fresh speculation that the debt-laden Greek government could leave the shared currency within the next six months.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has once again affirmed his nation’s desire to keep Greece in the eurozone, despite fresh speculation that the debt-laden Greek government could leave the shared currency within the next six months.

According to Reuters, Schaeuble told a meeting of business leaders in Singapore that Greece was unlikely to face a default, while asserting that the markets should not underestimate Germany’s determination to hold the eurozone together.

[quote]”I think, it will not happen that there will be a state bankrupt in Greece,” Schaeuble said, as cited by Reuters. Everyone is trusting that the Greek government is doing what is necessary.”[/quote]

On Saturday, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg had told Bloomberg that Greece would quit the eurozone within the next six months.

“It’s most probable that they will leave. We shouldn’t rule out this happening in the next half-year,” Borg said, ahead of the annual meetings of finance ministers at the IMF summit in Tokyo.

[quote]Given Greece’s lack of competitive industry and inability to implement necessary reforms, “it’s a little bit hard to see how they’ll resolve this situation without stimulating competitiveness through a significantly lower exchange rate,” he added.[/quote]

But Schaeuble dismissed Borg’s comments, insisting, “We do not see that there is any sense to speculate on Greece leaving the euro.”

“That would be very damaging for Greece and the euro,” he warned.

In fact, Schaueble added, as cited by Channel News Asia, “the European Monetary Union is even of more interest to Germany, than of Greece Therefore, it’s absolutely okay that we have to pay, to make this monetary union valid. I can tell you, Germany and the other European states will stick to the monetary union.”

Related: Why Germany Has No Choice But To Save Europe: Mohamed El-Erian

Related: Europe’s Last Hope – Will Germany Step Up? : George Soros

Related: Money Matters: Why Germany Wants to Keep the EU Together

His remarks were backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, who told a regional convention of her Christian Democratic Union party held at Celle in the northern state of Lower Saxony that many investors were “betting that we (Germany) won’t have the political strength” to defend the eurozone.

[quote]But “I am determined to make the effort, even if it’s hard,” she said.[/quote]