The euro is irreversible despite its faults: ECB's Coeure

[August 27, 2015]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The euro is an irreversible project even though the people of Europe lack confidence in the currency union's ability to deliver all promised benefits, European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure said on Thursday.

Greece, bailed out by the euro zone this month, came close to leaving the bloc with some, including Germany's finance minister, advocating a "temporary" exit.

"The exit of a member country would inevitably lead economic actors to wonder who would be next, with all the potential destabilizing effects that such speculation could entail," Coeure told a meeting of French diplomats in Paris.

"The genie will not be put back in its bottle once and for all until it is clear that such a risk will not rear its head again," he added.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; editing by John O'Donnell)

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