Bloomberg
May 22, 2015
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble raised the possibility that Greece may need a parallel currency alongside the euro if the country’s talks with creditors fail, people familiar with his views said.
Schaeuble mentioned the idea of parallel currencies at a recent meeting without endorsing it, according to two people who attended and asked not to be identified because the gathering was private. He also cited the example of Montenegro, which uses the euro but isn’t a member of the currency union, one person said.
The comments suggest that some in Germany are preparing for the worst amid a standoff with Greece that has dragged on since February. While Chancellor Angela Merkel and her finance minister say the goal is to keep Greece in the euro, Schaeuble has also said he wouldn’t rule out a Greek exit from the 19-nation currency.
Germany is “ready to take this brinkmanship very far,” with Schaeuble in the role of “attack dog,” Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said by phone. “The risks of contagion to other euro-area countries from a deterioration in Greece is very low.”
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