EBRD says Grexit unlikely, would undermine stable euro model

A Greek exit from the eurozone -- or Grexit -- would undermine the model of euro stability, a senior European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) official said on Tuesday, but the EBRD does not expect it to happen.

"Grexit is not the EBRD's base economic case," EBRD First Vice President Philip Bennett, who is also the bank's chief operating officer, told a Euromoney conference on Central and Eastern Europe in Vienna.

"We would be very concerned about Grexit from the point of view of taking away the model of euro stability and euro cohesion and undermining what we think is the gravitational pull of the EU model and the anchor for the convergence," he said.

Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic told a panel discussion that any Grexit may hit his country's financial sector. Serbia "has quite a few banks that are based in Greece, so the impact on the financial sector may be tangible and may actually trigger some other concerns," he said.

[Reuters]