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Buffett: Greek eurozone exit ‘may not be a bad thing’

Cherry Reynard
Written By:
Cherry Reynard
Posted:
Updated:
02/04/2015

Veteran investor Warren Buffett has said a Greek exit from the eurozone could be constructive for the region.

Buffett (pictured), chief executive and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said Greece leaving the single currency could help other member countries reach better policy agreements.

“If it turns out the Greeks leave, that may not be a bad thing for the euro,” the billionaire investor told CNBC. “It could be a good idea in several ways if everybody learns the rules mean something.”

Buffett added the euro has structural problems that need to be addressed, and “it is not ordained” that the euro area must have “exactly the same members it has today”.

“The euro is not dead and it may never be dead, but it does have to work its way through a harmonisation of financial matters in its constituent countries, because it cannot live with [members] going in dramatically different directions,” he told the broadcaster.

His comments come as Greece continues to struggled to reach an agreement with the other EU member states.
On Monday, its latest reform package was rejected by lenders as lacking concrete detail.

Greece’s bailout programme was extended by four months in February. The struggling country continues to burn through cash in the meantime and is yet to present a list of reforms meeting European authorities’ approval.