ANKARA
The British government will do whatever is necessary to ensure the U.K.’s financial stability, British Chancellor of the Exchequer said one day after Greeks rejected the international creditors' bailout terms in a referendum.
George Osborne told British MPs that the Greek crisis “has been one of the biggest external economic risks to the British economy. And the situation today shows that these risks remain.”
Eurozone authorities had made clear that they stood "ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure financial stability of the euro area,” Osborne said Monday. “Equally, the British government and the Bank of England stand ready to ensure our financial stability in the U.K.”
More than 61 percent of the Greek voters backed the ruling Syriza coalition’s call to reject the latest bailout plan proposed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Osborne said that Europe should plan on the assumption that this referendum will effectively be a choice for the Greek people about whether their country now leaves the euro.
“This is a matter for the Greek people to decide – and we respect their democratic right to decide their country’s future. We also respect the right of the eurozone to set conditions of membership,” he said.
He said that he did not think anyone should underestimate the impact that a Greek exit from the euro would have on the European economy – and the knock-on effects on the U.K.
Osborne said that Greece was part of that single currency, “and an exit will be traumatic”.
