Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis confirmed July 27 the existence of a secret plan for a parallel payments system that would’ve preceded a return to the drachma.
The first time the plan was revealed in public was July 16. Speaking on a conference call with the London-based Official Monetary and Financial Institutions, Forum Varoufakis told a group of investors that Greece’s finance ministry had been instructed to draw up a “plan B” in case the country failed to agree new bailout terms.
Although never implemented thanks to a last minute deal between Greece and its creditors, the plan has sent shockwaves throughout the country. “We were planning to create, surreptitiously, reserve accounts attached to every tax file number, without telling anyone, just to have this system in a function under wraps,” Varoufakis said.
“Of course this would be euro-denominated but at the drop of a hat it could be converted to a new drachma,” he added. The plan would’ve involved hacking into people’s tax details to design the new system.
The former finance minister made the revelations just 10 days after resigning from office. In the wake of Greece’s referendum demanding a better deal from the creditors, Varoufakis stepped down to facilitate a more amiable renegotiation. Varoufakis was unpopular among other European finance ministers and was judged by Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to be a liability in the renegotiations.
The academic who has referred to himself as an “erratic Marxist” also had some stinging words for Greece’s Eurozone partners. He told the group that Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was “bent on effecting a Grexit,” or forcing Greece to leave the Euro. He added that France was “terrified” by the level of austerity being imposed on Greece and wanted to delay a closer fiscal union to avoid spending cuts and structural reform.
“There is no way that they can politically handle the kind of austerity that is demanded by Berlin,” said Varoufakis. The plan was denounced by Greek opposition parties such as To Potami. Some of Varoufakis’s enemies are attempting to have him brought to trial for Treason. On 22 July, Panayiotis Giannopoulos filed a lawsuit with Greece’s Supreme Court arguing Varoufakis’s actions caused “incalculable damage to the interests of the country.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.