Tsipras Victory Won’t Threaten Greece’s $97B Bailout Deal

Alexis Tsipras’ return to power won’t jeopardize the $97 billion bailout deal he agreed to this summer. ‘A bailout deal was agreed to and we’ve seen Greece implement a number of the reforms that were requested by the eurozone in order to receive the first tranche of the bailout money,’ said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, based in London. ‘I don’t think Tsipras has much of a choice but to implement these reforms.’ The controversial prime minister who rose to power towards the beginning of this year on an anti-austerity platform, succumbed to creditors’ cost cutting demands in August as the debt-laden nation’s economic woes grew. Tsipras agreed to a $97 billion bailout program, in exchange for a host of austerity measures. Tsipras resigned in August, but was triumphantly voted back into office Sunday. ‘The victory says a lot about the Greek people,’ Erlam said. ‘Yes, they don’t want austerity, but they do want to remain in the euro. They think Alexis Tsipras is the one to keep them in the euro, while putting up a fight against unfair austerity measures.’ While Greece’s debt situation seems to have stabilized for now, the bailout plan from earlier this summer isn’t enough to put the nation’s economic woes to rest for good. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from New York.