The eurozone would cope if Greece left the currency union, Germany’s finance minister said in an interview yesterday as Greek parties continued with efforts to form a coalition government.
Asked by the regional Rheinische Post whether the eurozone could withstand a Greek exit, German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble said: “Europe won’t sink that easily.”
“We want Greece to remain in the eurozone, but it also has to want this and to fulfill its obligations. We can’t force anyone,” Schaeuble said.
“We have learned a lot these past two years and have built protection mechanisms. The danger of contamination for other countries in the eurozone have become weaker and the eurozone as a whole has become more resistant,” Schaeuble said.
“The crisis has shown that one must act quickly and that Europe can act quickly ... the notion that we would not be capable of reacting in the short term to something unforeseen is false,” he added.
Schaeuble’s comments came as Socialists in Greece tried to cobble together a government, the third party to attempt to do so since Sunday’s elections gave a razor-thin majority in parliament to anti-austerity parties.
Germany and the EU have made it clear to Greece that it must abide by its austerity pledges if it wants to receive bailout funds, money that Athens needs to avoid a default.
If no party manages to form a coalition, the president is set to call new elections that observers say are likely to hand a greater majority in parliament to anti-austerity parties.
“No one is threatening anyone here, but we must be honest ... and tell our Greek friends and partners that there is no other way than the one that we have chosen together,” Schaeuble said in the interview.
“We have already done a lot,” he said, referring to two bailouts for Greece.
“Greece must understand that in exchange, it must fulfill its obligations,” he said.
It is “dangerous to tell tales to citizens, telling them that there is another, simpler way to heal Greece, avoiding all the trials. It’s absurd,” he said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and