Markets react to Greek Prime Minister Tsipras' call to end austerity measures in policy statement
Tsipras tells parliament he will not compromise on his party's stand to end austerity measures, saying he 'will not negotiate this people's pride'
Investors hammered Greece's markets yesterday after the country's new government renewed a pledge to seek bailout debt forgiveness and dubbed the rescue package a "toxic fantasy" - comments that presage a clash with European lenders at high-stakes meetings this week.
Markets were hit after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in his inaugural speech in parliament late on Sunday described his election pledge to seek debt restructuring as "irrevocable".
"Greece's new Prime Minister Tsipras gave a few hints that the reality shock after a week of European meetings has started to reach Athens," said Christian Schulz, an economist with Berenberg Bank in London. "But the policy programme presented still reads more like a unilateral tearing up of the conditions under which Athens received ... aid."
Tsipras' new government — which ousted the less-confrontational conservatives — argues that Greece's debt will be increasingly unsustainable unless it receives generous repayment relief that would allow its battered economy to recover.
"It appears the new government does not yet have a road map for the economy," said conservative lawmaker Christos Staikouras. "That has created a great deal of turbulence."
In his first major speech to parliament on Sunday, Tsipras presented his government's policy, which included all the promises made by his radical left party, Syriza, in its manifesto before last month's election.