Will Greece’s austerity plan affect euro?

TEXT OF STORY

Steve Chiotakis: This morning, the European Commission backed the latest austerity plan from Greece. Last night, the Greek prime minister unveiled measures to cut his country’s soaring budget deficit.
More from London and Marketplace’s Stephen Beard.

Stephen Beard: The Greek government is proposing deep cuts in public spending. The European Commission OK’d the plan, but said that Athens wioll have trouble implementing it.

Big Public sector strikes are in the cards. Currency markets are watching closely. It’s feared that other heavily indebted eurozone countries could get into similar trouble.

Steve Barrow of Standard Bank:

Steve Barrow: I think the focus has switched to what’s going on in the eurozone. We think they’re going from bad to worse, despite this sort of let-off for Greece today. I think the euro will be the victim.

The euro rallied slightly today, but Barrow thinks it will soon head lower. Some economists reckon that rising government debt could eventually tear the eurozone apart.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.