The postponement of the issuance of the Greek 10-year bond bears witness to the fact that the government’s economic team is cognizant of the turbulence prevailing in Europe and the markets due to developments in Italy.

This time it is not Italy’s political instability that is the problem, but rather the day after the formation of a government by the populists of the Five Star Movement and the extreme right-wingers of the Northern League.

The government’s cognizance, however, must be expressed politically. The government must adjust its policies to the new realities, and not insist inflexibly on the narrative of a clean exit from the bailout programme, which seems evermore like an exit into a dangerous adventure.

Even if the government hopes for the best, it must prepare for the worst. That preparation, as many have warned, involves a precautionary credit line.

One need not be a prophet to imagine the situation in August, to imagine a Europe that will not know how to manage the crisis in its third largest economy.

What, then, is one of the smallest and weakest economies to do?

What it must not do is be complacent and believe that the days of August will be calm.

Even more, it must not pretend that those days will be calm, simply in order to support its narrative, while the surrounding storm will be raging.

Τελευταία Νέα