Euro Zone Crisis Escalates on Greek Debt Fears

Reuters/New York Times
April 19, 2011

Fresh fears that Greece will have to restructure its mountain of debt, possibly as early as this summer, sent the euro and some euro zone bond prices tumbling on Monday as the bloc's debt crisis escalated.
Reuters

German government sources told Reuters in Berlin that they did not believe Greece, which sealed a 110 billion euro ($158 billion) bailout from the EU and IMF a year ago, would make it through the summer without a restructuring.

Market confidence was also hit by a new threat to Portugal's pending bailout from the rise of an anti-euro party in Finnish elections.

The anti-euro True Finns party scored big gains in a Sunday vote and vowed to push for changes to a Portuguese rescue by the EU that is expected to total 80 billion euros when it is finalized by a mid-May deadline.

After a brief lull in the EU debt crisis at the start of 2011, it has blown up again and some analysts are now openly speculating that Greece and possibly other countries could eventually be forced to exit the bloc.

More