"I am deeply convinced that from an economic, production point of view… the best scenario for Greece… would be leaving the euro for a certain period of time to restructure its own currency and strengthen industrial production, become competitive and, in 5-10 years, depending on how things go, return to the euro," Ramsauer said on the ZDF television channel.
Greece was particularly hard hit by the aftereffects of the 2008 world economic crisis. The country had to be bailed out by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), leaving it owing an estimated $350 billion.
Athens is currently in talks with its creditors, trying to reach a new bailout deal in exchange for reforms. The current deal expires on June 30.
On Wednesday, Greek government sources claimed that Athens had rejected its lenders’ reform proposals.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Greece said in a report that failure to reach an agreement would lead Greece to default, and could likely trigger the country’s exit from the eurozone and possibly the European Union.
