JEREMY HOBSON: Now let’s get to the Greek bailout. Athens has so far been unable to reach the fiscal targets it agreed to when it took bailout money from the European Union and the IMF last year. And now European officials are meeting to decide if Greece should get its next slice of bailout cash.
Julia Coronado is chief economist with the investment bank BNP Paribas. She’s with us live from New York as she is every Monday. Good morning.
JULIA CORONADO: Good morning.
HOBSON: Well Julia. Is there really a chance that Greece won’t get the rest of its bailout cash?
CORONADO: Well, what’s true is that they clearly haven’t met all of the requirements, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of political will inside of Greece to take the steps needed.
So policy makers are really faced with a tricky situation. If they play it tough and withhold the next round of payments then worries will grow that the whole solution is not really feasible.
HOBSON: That the idea that a country that’s in dire straits could cut its budget really quickly. Maybe that just can’t be done.
CORONADO: That’s right. And it’s not just Greece that’s facing this situation. It’s Portugal, it’s Ireland, and even the U.S. Can we actually cut government budgets back to where revenues are able to sustain them. Pain has to be felt and voters don’t tend to like to vote politicians in that bring pain, so it’s a tough situation.
HOBSON: Julia Coronado, chief economist with the investment bank BNP Paribas, thanks as always, and have a nice holiday.
CORONADO: You do the same, thanks.
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