Should Greece abandon the euro during financial crisis?

Riot police attempted to control an angry crowd near the Greek Finance Ministry during the start of a two-day general strike sparked by parliamentary cost-cutting debates.

Before the European Union and the International Monetary Fund can release the next installment of Greece's €110 billion ($155 billion) bailout loan, parliament must pass new austerity measures. The program will slap taxes on struggling Greeks, whose unemployment rate is already soaring at more than 16 per cent thanks to other spending cuts and tax hikes. Unions called a two-day general strike to protest the new €28 billion ($39 billion) austerity program.

Without EU and IMF help, Greece could become the first eurozone country to default on its debts, which could affect other financially troubled European countries.

Some financial experts have suggested Greece might be forced to abandon the euro and return to its former currency. But deputy Prime Minsister Theodoros Pangalos criticized them.

"The next day banks would be surrounded by people trying to get their money out. The army would have to use tanks to protect [the banks] because there wouldn't be enough police to do it," he was quoted as saying. "There would be riots everywhere... It would also be disastrous for the entire economy of Europe."

Do you think the Greek government will pass the new austerity measures? Or will union pressure force them to seek alternatives? Let us know in the comments below.


(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)