News

A day after referendum verdict against austerity measure, Greek Finance Minister resigns

by IBNS 06 Jul 2015, 12:32 am

Athens, July 6 (IBNS) Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has resigned a day after the countrys resounding rejection in a referendum to the eurozones austerity terms for a bailout.

Writing on his blog on Monday morning he said that he would be stepping down immediately after pressure from Greece’s European partners.

Greeks delivered a  rebuff to Europe's leaders on Sunday, decisively turning down  a deal offered by the country's creditors.

Reports quoted Greek  Interior Ministry as declaring that with more than 90 percent of the vote tallied, 61 percent of the voters had said no to a deal that would have imposed greater austerity measures on the beleaguered country, facing a prolonged recession, high unemployment and banks being perilously  low on capital.

Greece defaulted on an International Monetary Fund loan repayment last week, becoming the first developed nation to do so.

The voters' 'no' could now take the cash-starved Greece to a new path forcing it to  start issuing its own currency and become the first country to leave the 19-member eurozone, established in 1999.

The no votes gave a sweeping victory to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leftist who came to power in January vowing to reject new austerity measures.

He called it  an injustice and economically self-defeating.

But  his victory in the referendum settled little, since the creditors' offer is no longer on the table.

Tsipras went on television briefly to say he would resume negotiations immediately. He said that the vote was not a mandate for "rupture" with Europe and that it would strengthen his ability to negotiate a "viable'' future for Greece in the eurozone.