Matthew Winkler Talks to George Papandreou

Why is it so important for Greece to share the euro, and why do you think the people of Greece will resist a return to drachmas?
Greece’s history in the drachma was an up-and-down history, a roller coaster. We are going through a crisis now, but we assume that this is something that we are going to get through. Our experience in the last 10 years, other than the specific crisis, was a period of high and important growth for Greece and better conditions. Now, we obviously have to make changes. But making the economy more viable, I think, will also create stability.

Opposition leader Samaras has said this government has no Plan B.
Let’s put it this way: We are in uncharted waters but we know where we’re going. We know where we want to get to and we may need to do corrective moves at different times. When we took over, our first estimates [of the 2009 deficit] were 13.5 percent. After working with Eurostat … it ended up at 15.5 percent. So a 5 percent reduction was a major accomplishment. No other country has done it in Europe. Secondly, the Plan B that Samaras has proposed is deemed by everyone as unrealistic. The real problem in Greece is not cutting taxes, it’s making sure that we don’t have tax evasion.