Former representative at the International Monetary Fund, Panayiotis Roumeliotis, was questioned for five hours on Thursday and from what it looks like his testimony may prove significant in the investigation into the circumstances under which Greece agreed to its EU-International Monetary Fund bail-out in 2010. The primary aim of the probe is to ascertain whether or not public officials including former Prime Minister George Papandreou are worthy of a trial for their actions against Greece (its economy) and the Greek people! It’s now up to the current government to decide if Papandreou will sit on the hot seat or not.
Roumeliotis was grilled by - the dynamic duo - economic crime prosecutors Grigoris Peponis and Spyros Mouzakitis. His testimony is regarded as being vital and according to initial assessments it is going to pave the way for a preliminary investigation that the two prosecutors are carrying out.
(Just a thought here - Yioupi !!!!)
The prosecutors ordered a probe on the possible that high-ranking Greek government officials committed a breach of faith at the expense of the Greek state, as well as offenses related to the economy.
According to judicial sources, the two prosecutors will continue the investigation, although, and according to assessments, the mere reference to former prime minister George Papandreou by the first witness (Roumeliotis) in the case could send the investigation's file straight to Parliament, thereby commencing a more wide-ranging investigation over the causes of the blistering Greek economic crisis.
Speaking to the "New York Times", Roumeliotis was quoted in late July 2012 as saying that "... we knew at the fund (IMF) from the very beginning that this program was impossible to be implemented because we didn't have any (?) successful examples." He reportedly said that this observation drew the reaction of then prime minister George Papandreou. Testimony claimed that associates of Papandreou attributed to him a failure to notify anyone in this respect. Papandreou is also reportedly cited as not raising the issue even when relevant discussion was taking place at the IMF as he was obliged to do with the government of his country.
IMF sources have indirectly dismissed Roumeliotis' previous statements, while the former later issued a written statement requested to know whether Papandreou was aware of the views of then IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn "regarding the problematic aspects of the program drawn up by Greece". He also called on Papandreou to clarify "why he (Papandreou) did not pursue the immediate restructuring of the Greek public debt as Strauss-Kahn had suggested ... Why did he (Papandreou) decided to accept a large borrowing interest rate from the eurozone ... And why he agreed to a short period of time of fiscal adjustment."
What's more, Roumeliotis also told the prosecutors that he himself briefed Papandreou on these very issues...
But this is not the first time that Roumeliotis spilled the beans. Several months ago, and specifically in an article published in Epikaira magazine (dated 03 / 04 / 2012) Roumeliotis revealed how Papandreou and George Papakostantinou knew about restructuring the debt... two years before Greece even went to the IMF !!! He added that one of the key conditions in 2010 was the “haircut” of Greek debt.
Roumeliotis also noted that when the IMF has to confront a country with structural problems and significant budget deficits - including high debt, it is usually recommends that they go directly to debt restructuring. “The IMF could not make the decision to push the country towards a debt restructuring by itself," because they feared the destabilizing effects on the Eurozone as well as the impact this would have on the global financial system.
"They said it should be an internal devaluation", he added.
And judging by what happened, it was!
According to Roumeliotis the devaluation was achieved by using fiscal policy, by slashing salaries and pensions, and reducing public expenses. All this so that the budget deficit could be lowered, while at the same time structural changes be made.
He said this was the approach because they could not use exchange rate policy.
Mr. Roumeliotis said that the “model” was never tested again in another country and it was “the first time the fund was facing a country where they could not use all their tools. He also revealed that the IMF initially agreed not to press Greece to restructure its debt but would expect this immediately after the signing of the memorandum (!!!!).
Indeed, the former representative of Greece to the IMF argued that in July 2010, he met with the former head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn who asked him to advise Papandreou's associates, -off the record of course-, to begin pressuring the Europeans about the debt restructuring process right away because the debt was growing at a breakneck speed at this point and the IMF was concerned that it would not be able to monitor it.
What is worse is what Roumeliotis told the magazine about the wage cuts in the private sector. He said that one part of the program that was not clear when the IMF first came to Greece concerned the proposals by various groups -even from within the IMF team- that wage cuts had to extend to the private sector and following a long discussion the head of the IMF mission to Greece, Paul Thomsen totally rejected the idea. (In other words, the article in Epikaira leaves it to be understood that the slashing of salaries in the private sector was solely a government decision...)
The head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker backed up this story, claiming that "there was a discussion at the beginning of the program where the IMF said that Greece needed to undergo a major debt restructuring (or haircut)
So what are the conclusions here... ??
Someone prevented a needy restructuring of the Greek debt in 2010 and thus literally destroyed the Greek economy.
It does not take a nucleur physasist to figure out who did it and why, hellasfrappe has featured a truckload of articles on this subject. We will continue to insist that it is ALL about our national wealth... and we will say this until we are blue in the face, or at least until someone finally listens! Merkel, Barroso, Olli Rehn and their Greek politician agents in Greece such as Papantoniou and Papandreou will be exposed sooner or later and this is because the same method is now set to be used by Merkel in Spain.. that is if Spain allows her to.
There are too many questions that need answers either through a parliamentary probe or something similar and not because Roumeliotis raised them, but because an entire nation of people have literally fallen to their knees because of Papandreou's political decisions.
Nonetheless, the damage has been done. More than 11 million people are currently fighting for every day survival. We see this everywhere we turn. People are not being paid, employment is difficult to find, the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed, and people (even ourselves included) owe at least 2 or 3 rents and fear eviction. It is not a laughing matter anymore... Victory is having comforts such as electricity, running water and food!
Imagine that...
Combine this with a surge in crime, a total destruction of our cities and everyday life from a flood of illegal immigrants, a very unstable political and economic environment and the fear of a spill over of war (meaning the events unfolding in Syria) and one does not have to think long and hard why thousands have already committed suicide (not that killing yourself is the answer of course).
We are literally hanging on by a thread. (hellasfrappe included)
We still want to believe in democracy and hope that "the system" breaks its Omerta and begins to point the finger in the direction it needs to be pointed! It is the only way to wipe our society clean from such personalities and bring back the glory to the political system of our country.
After all... we did create democracy.
(by hellasfrappe)
WHOEVER DOES THE CRIME... MUST PAY THE TIME, DEDICATED TO OUR EX P.M.
References
- http://www.epikaira.gr/epikairo.php?id=41095&category_id=88
- http://www.newsnow.gr/article/191022/to-dromo-gia-ti-systasi-exetastikis-gia-to-mnimonio-anoixe-i-katathesi-roumelioti.html
- http://www.tovima.gr/opinions/article/?aid=471656
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