Greece`s unorthodox Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned Monday, less than 24 hours after he successfully helped Athens win a divisive referendum on its creditors` bailout terms that increases anxiety that Greece could spectacularly crash out of the eurozone currency bloc.
"I shall wear the creditors` loathing with pride," Varoufakis said in a defiant but characteristically colorful announcement posted on his blog.
He said he was resigning because Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras believed his departure might help pave the way for Greece to "achieve a deal" with its creditors.
The surprise development comes as Greece`s overwhelming repudiation — by 61.3% to 38.7% — of the harsh austerity measures sought by the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission intensifies the crisis between Greece and Europe`s political leaders at a time when Athens is scrambling to avert economic collapse.
Greek banks are quickly running out of cash and the ECB has not yet decided whether to keep providing emergency funding. Athens has already missed a loan repayment to the IMF.
Varoufakis added in the blog post that he was " aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants (eurozone finance ministers)" for this "absence."
Tsipras did not immediately name a replacement for Varoufakis, known for riding his motorcycle to cabinet meetings, and for sporting a leather trench coat. In Sunday`s post-vote news conference, Varoufakis wore a t-shirt.
European leaders have called an emergency summit on the Greek vote. Before that, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with French President Francois Hollande to coordinate their response. Bloomberg`s Hans Nichols reports on First Up.
Meanwhile, investors were rattled as they watched for any next steps from Greece or eurozone officials ahead of a Tuesday meeting in Brussels, where finance ministers and leaders will discuss the outcome of the controversial referendum.
Major stock benchmarks in Asia, Europe and on Wall Street all moved lower Monday.
Greece`s FM resigns as Athens scrambles to avert economic collapse - VIDEO
06 July 2015
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The Greek voters have spoken, but what exactly they`ve said will likely be up for debate in the coming weeks. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
