Greece

Chris Philp Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I have always felt that good politics flows from good economics. Ultimately, what we all want to see are more jobs and investment in Greece and an economic policy that allows that to happen.

[Chris Philp (Croydon South) (Con)]

The Chancellor has already assured the House that, thanks to the Government’s actions, UK banks are strong enough to withstand any Greek crisis. Are any European financial institutions of concern to the Chancellor, and do UK pension funds and insurance companies have any alarming exposures?

[Mr Osborne]

Across the British financial system, there has been a very marked reduction in our exposure to the Greek economy and banking system over the past couple of years, so we are much less exposed to the direct consequences of financial problems in Greece than we would have been a few years ago. More broadly, that is also the case across the European economy. The biggest risk that we faced a few years ago was our exposure to economies and banking systems in other eurozone countries that had relationships with Greek banks, but they too have reduced their exposures.