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Analysts do not expect Greek exit from euro zone

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (KUNA) -- Greeks will be voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday which might see the victory of a leftist party in power in the country.
While Europe is closely watching Sunday's vote, analysts opine a Greek exit from the euro is not a realistic scenario.
Daniel Gros, director of the Brussels-based think tank آ‘Centre for European Policy Studies, wrote in a commentary that officially nobody wants Grexit: Not Syriza, which wants Greece to stay in the euro. It is آ‘onlyآ’ asking for a reduction in Greeceآ’s official debt and an end to austerity.
He noted that the German government also does not favour Grexit because European unification remains the central project for German policy-makers across all mainstream parties.
"Only some protest parties and vocal economists think Greece would better off with a new Drachma," he opined.
According to the latest polls, The Coalition of the Radical Left, know as Syriza, has maintained its lead, with a five point margin on the ruling party, the centre-right New Democracy. But it is uncertain if Syriza will get enough votes to form a government on its own.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras had threatened to "tear up" the Greek bailout pact with international creditors , the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But he appears to have changed his position, hinting that he would settle for longer repayment time and lower interest rates instead.
He also underlined that there is no question of Greece leaving the eurozone. Twenty-two parties are taking part in Sundayآ’s election. A party needs to get at least 3 percent of the vote to win seats in the 300-member parliament.
If no single party wins absolute majority, Greeceآ’s president will give the leader of the party with the most votes a mandate to form a government in three days. If he fails, the mandate is handed to second-biggest party, and then to the third party.
On his part, President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi , has said that Greece needs to remain in the EU/IMF adjustment program.
Greek commentator Nikos Konstandaras said that "New Democracy presumes that a Syriza win would mean severing ties with our partners and a eurozone exit. For Syriza, this message constitutes fear-mongering and a ploy to shield the truth, given, as Alexis Tsipras said, that Greeceآ’s future in Europe is certain." "The truth is much more complicated and the future of the country will depend on the actions of the next government and on the agreements it achieves with our partners," he wrote in the Greek daily Kathimerini. (end) nk.gta