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Eurozone breakup would be horror scenario: Austrian Chancellor

30 August 2012 22:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Thursday warned of a horror scenario if the eurozone were to break up, APA reports.

Austria would lose 11 percent of its GDP, or 32 billion euros (40 billion U.S. dollars), in the first year if the single currency area were to break up, Faymann was quoted as saying by the ORF at the European Forum Alpbach.

It would take five years for the country to recover from such a scenario, and unemployment would rise by 3.3 percent leaving a void of 140,000 jobs, he added.

"We can not imagine the social and political cost of such a scenario," Faymann said, adding that currency speculation could worsen the situation dramatically.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also echoed Faymannâ€™s sentiments and warned of social issues such as high youth unemployment.

"The crisis has a social dimension, which could drive a deep wedge between politicians and their constituents and indirectly between the EU and its citizens," he said at the forum.