ATHENS: BNP Paribas SA Chairman Jean Lemierre urged an agreement between policymakers and Greece on keeping the nation in the euro, saying nobody wanted a repeat of the 2001 default in Argentina that thrust the country into depression.
“The exit of Greece will send the Greeks into poverty,” Lemierre said Tuesday in Riyadh. “Nobody wants to see an Argentine situation, so there are good reasons why there should be an agreement and the views are the same in Berlin in Paris.”
Germany doesn’t want Greece to leave the euro and will “within the range of our possibilities do everything” to avoid a sovereign default, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Tuesday at a news conference in Berlin. Euro-area finance chiefs urged Greece to bow to their terms for releasing aid within days to avert a cash crunch as talks with the country continue.
Argentina defaulted on about $93 billion of sovereign debt in December 2001, precipitating a political and economic crisis that saw four different presidents rule the country that month. The currency’s devaluation wiped out the savings of ordinary Argentines and helped drive many into poverty.
“Nobody has interest in having a crisis of an exit or a nasty default,” Lemierre said of speculation Greece may need to leave the euro. “It’s much better to be in Europe with good friends and wealthy friends than to be outside.”
Lemierre was speaking at a euromoney conference in the Saudi Arabian capital. BNP is France’s largest bank.
