💶 How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece Join the Eurozone

🇬🇷 Step 1: The Problem

In the early 2000s, Greece wanted to join the Eurozone. But the rules required:

Greece's debt and deficit were too high. The government needed a creative way to make the numbers look better — without actually reducing debt.

💼 Step 2: Goldman Sachs Arrives

Goldman Sachs offered Greece a package of currency and interest rate swaps:

📉 These swaps helped Greece make its debt appear smaller — on paper.

🔄 Step 3: Currency Swap Details

Greece had debt in USD and JPY. Goldman Sachs helped them swap that into euros — but at a non-market exchange rate that:

✅ Result: Greece's reported euro debt looked lower in the short term.

📉 Step 4: Interest Rate Swap

Goldman also structured interest rate swaps that let Greece:

🕐 This delayed the pain and made Greece look compliant... temporarily.

💥 Step 5: What Went Wrong?

By 2009, the true debt came to light. Greece's actual obligations were far higher. The result?

⚠️ Using swaps to hide debt can have severe long-term consequences, even if legal at the time.

🧠 Quick Quiz: True or False