AFP, Madrid :
Spain could become like Greece if the same austerity policies are imposed on the country, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview published Sunday.
“Spaniards need to look at their own economic and social situation and based on that evaluate what their country needs, independently of what happens in Greece or wherever,” he told centre-left daily El Pais.
“The danger of becoming Greece is always there and it will become reality if the same mistakes that were imposed on Greece are repeated,” he added.
Varoufakis, an economist with unorthodox ideas about the euro and Greece’s debt restructuring, resigned the day after Greeks voted against creditor bailout terms in a July 5 referendum.
The Greek government later accepted even harsher terms in a deal at an all-night eurozone summit on July 12-13.
With a general election looming later this year, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has used the economic turbulence in Greece as a chilling backdrop to promote his own government’s crisis management.
Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party says that if new far-left party Podemos-a close ally of Greece’s ruling Syriza-forces a change of course on the economy after the election, Spain could plunge back into crisis.
Asked about the Spanish government’s statements, Varoufakis said Greece “has become a sort of football for right-wing politicians, who insist on using Greece to frighten their population.”
Spain could become like Greece if the same austerity policies are imposed on the country, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview published Sunday.
“Spaniards need to look at their own economic and social situation and based on that evaluate what their country needs, independently of what happens in Greece or wherever,” he told centre-left daily El Pais.
“The danger of becoming Greece is always there and it will become reality if the same mistakes that were imposed on Greece are repeated,” he added.
Varoufakis, an economist with unorthodox ideas about the euro and Greece’s debt restructuring, resigned the day after Greeks voted against creditor bailout terms in a July 5 referendum.
The Greek government later accepted even harsher terms in a deal at an all-night eurozone summit on July 12-13.
With a general election looming later this year, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has used the economic turbulence in Greece as a chilling backdrop to promote his own government’s crisis management.
Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party says that if new far-left party Podemos-a close ally of Greece’s ruling Syriza-forces a change of course on the economy after the election, Spain could plunge back into crisis.
Asked about the Spanish government’s statements, Varoufakis said Greece “has become a sort of football for right-wing politicians, who insist on using Greece to frighten their population.”
