Fwd: Greece

'Germany is not planning for a Greek exit from the euro zone and has not changed its policy towards Athens, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Wednesday, after the Bild newspaper said Berlin was working on contingency plans for such a move.

Mass-selling Bild said the government was running scenarios for Greece's Jan. 25 election, including a run on Greek banks, in case of a victory by the left-wing Syriza party, which wants to cancel austerity measures and a part of the country's debt…

Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday that Berlin considered a Greek exit almost unavoidable if Syriza wins, but believed the euro zone would be able to cope. Syriza is ahead of other parties in Greek opinion polls.

Bild said government experts were concerned about a possible bank collapse if customers storm Greek institutions to secure euro deposits if Athens leaves the single currency bloc.

The European Union banking union would then have to intervene with a bailout worth billions, it said.

The head of Germany's Ifo institute Hans-Werner Sinn told newspaper Handelsblatt it could cost German taxpayers up to 76 billion euros.'

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/07/eurozone-greece-germany-idUSL6N0UM1Z920150107