Grexit ‘beginning of the end of the eurozone’: Greek PM

A Greek exit from the eurozone would be the beginning of the end of the single currency, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was quoted as saying Friday in a newspaper interview.

“The famous Grexit cannot be an option either for the Greeks or the European Union. This would be an irreversible step, it would be the beginning of the end of the eurozone,” Austrian daily Kurier quoted Tsipras as saying, in an interview published in German.

“The Greek government cannot absorb the savings programme forced upon it by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. They would also not be positive for the Greek economy. Greece would not become more competitive and the debts would also not be reduced. The whole concept needs to be changed,” he said.

The comments were published after talks between finance ministers and Greece fell apart in Luxembourg Thursday, leaving Athens with less than two weeks to unlock billions of euros in bailout funds to service its debts.

With Greece unwilling to agree to some austerity terms and creditors also not backing down, the country could end up defaulting, which could then lead to it leaving the eurozone.