Greece's
former finance minister was ready to hack into the country's tax collection
system as part of contingency planning for a possible exit from the euro.
The hacking was
part of a "plan B" hatched by Yanis Varoufakis to create a parallel
currency in case Greece was unable to agree a new bailout with its creditors.
Varoufakis resigned on July 5 as the country's financial
crisis spiraled out of control. Greece struck
a deal with the creditors on July
13.
He described the
scheme during a teleconference with a group of investors earlier this month. A
recording of the call has
been made public.
Varoufakis said he
was asked to prepare a plan for Greece's exit from the euro by Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras even before the left-wing leader was elected.
By enabling
taxpayers to access money and make electronic payments through the tax
collection website, Greece could continue to function for a while even with the
banks closed.
Varoufakis
revealed how he employed his childhood friend, now a technology expert at
Columbia University, to break into the tax collection system.
"We decided
to hack into my ministry's own software program in order to be able to copy the
code of the tax system's website so that we can work out how to design and
implement this parallel payment system," Varoufakis said.
"It would be
euro denominated, but at the drop of a hat it could be converted to the new
drachma."
Greece's
independent tax collection agency was set up as part of the 2012 international
bailout agreement. In the call with investors, Varoufakis said the agency is
controlled by Greece's creditors.
He said that he
was not prepared to ask the foreign officials for permission to access the
software, because he didn't want to reveal his hand while negotiations on a new
bailout were underway.
The bombshell revelation is likely to
further damage the trust between Greece and its creditors.
"Unveiled
plans by Greece's ex-finance mininster Varoufakis to return to drachma during
ongoing talks with us show how unpredictable he was as a partner," Slovak
finance minister Peter Kazimir said.
The country
desperately needs to convince the rest of the eurozone about its commitment to
a reform program if it wants to receive another huge bailout.
"We need to
make sure that such two-faced 'games' will be avoided when debating and
drafting the third bailout package for Greece," Kazimir added.
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