'Grexit' poses medium-term risks to euro: Italy

Greek euro exit will demonstrate union is not permanent, says Italy finance minister

Published Fri, May 22, 2015 · 09:50 PM

Rome

GREECE crashing out of the euro, or "Grexit", does not pose a short-term risk to the shared European currency but a medium-term one as it demonstrates that the union is not permanent, Italy's finance minister said on Friday.

If Greece abandons the euro, "the monetary union becomes a different animal", Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan was quoted as saying in Friday's issue of La Repubblica. "A group that is possible to leave, it will no longer be irreversible."