Bavarian finance minister sees Grexit likely

Greece will not last in the eurozone in the long run and officials working on a review of its bailout package should prepare for such a possibility, a senior member of the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said.

Greece has lost a quarter of its national output since it first sought financial aid in 2010.

Its current bailout package is the third in seven years. "Greece is unlikely to survive in the eurozone over the long term," Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder told the Handelsblatt newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

Soeder urged officials working on the bailout review to develop a "plan B," or alternative plan.

"We'll see if Greece meets the conditions. I'm very skeptical," Soeder said, adding that the participation of the International Monetary Fund in the Greek program was essential.

[Reuters]