Wieser: First six months of SYRIZA gov't cost Greece 200 bln euros

The first six months of the leftist-led SYRIZA government cost Greece around 200 billion euros,  former Euro Working Group chief Thomas Wieser told the Delphi Economic Forum on Friday, describing that estimate as "safe" and "conservative."

In a discussion being moderated by the executive editor of Kathimerini, Alexis Papachelas, Wieser noted that the SYRIZA-led government was basically provoking Grexit from its rise in late January to July of that year.

Wieser noted that in 2010, the German government decided that the participation of the International Monetary Fund in the rescue program for Greece was necessary, noting that the Eurozone lacked the technical knowhow for that sort of program.

He noted that former US President Barack Obama took an active role during Greece's crisis, adding that the then Treasury Secretary Jack Lew would call the Eurogroup chairman...