Greece Could Default Without Exiting Euro, Say Economists

24-Apr (Bloomberg) — A Greek default doesn’t mean the country has to leave the euro area, economists say.

The chances of Greece missing some of its debt payments in the coming weeks are 40 percent, while the probability of an exit from the 19-nation currency bloc stands at 30 percent, according to median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of 29 economists. Almost four in five respondents said a default won’t trigger an exit.

“Although the likelihood of default and Grexit has certainly risen considerably over the past few weeks in both cases, it is wrong to think that one necessarily will follow the other,” said Danae Kyriakopoulou, senior economist at the Center for Economics and Business Research in London. “If liquidity can be maintained even in the case of default then this means that Grexit will not follow default.”

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