By Andrea Thomas And Bertrand Benoit
BERLIN--When Chancellor Angela Merkel joins her fellow European leaders in Brussels on Tuesday for talks that will decide whether Greece can keep the euro, the cost of failure will be at the back of her mind.
Should the talks collapse and Greece stumble out of the eurozone, every member state stands to lose the loans extended as part of Greece's past bailouts--a factor that could help sway the negotiations one way or another.
Yet, while many countries might see the price of failure as an incentive to seek an amicable deal, Germany, which has taken the lead in shaping Europe's answer to the eurozone crisis for the past five years, faces a less clear-cut calculation.
The German government hasn't published estimates of how much it could lose in case of a default, arguing that this scenario could unfold in too many different ways. Based on available data, however, the Munich-based Ifo economic institute puts total German exposure to Greece, including the loans and a host of other liabilities, at EUR88 billion ($97 billion), while rating agency Standard & Poor's estimates it at EUR90.6 billion.
This would make Germany Greece's largest creditor in the eurozone and the country with the most to lose from a Greek default. But because of factors ranging from Germany's good fiscal position--it is currently generating a budget surplus--buoyant tax revenues, and the fact that many loans to Greece aren't set to mature for many years, many economists argue that Berlin would weather a Greek default largely unscathed.
The hit "would hardly be noticeable for Germans," said Jens Boysen-Hogrefe, economist with Kiel-based institute IfW.
Moritz Kramer, analyst with S&P, said Germany could absorb such losses in its roughly EUR300 billion federal budget "without triggering any noticeable tax or spending moves."
For Dirk Schumacher, economist with Goldman Sachs, "there isn't a lot at risk in the near term....Such losses would materialize over several years and they can be compensated with [normal] fiscal revenues."
Berlin has EUR53.4 billion in bilateral and eurozone-wide loans and loan guarantees outstanding to Greece. But repayments aren't due to start until 2020 for the first program and 2024 for the second.
Should Greece default on the bonds held by the European and national central banks, Germany would face a hit of up to EUR7.1 billion. It also has a EUR29 billion exposure to Greece through the eurozone's Target2 interbank payment system, which would be crystallized only if Greece exited the eurozone.
Losses on the ECB's bonds would be shared among eurozone central banks, which could result in a reduction in the profits the Bundesbank pays to the government. It isn't clear how the Target2 claims would be dealt with, since the eurozone wasn't designed to break up.
Economists also stress a default would almost certainly be only partial. And while Germany looks to be Greece's largest creditor in absolute terms, it is only middle-ranking in relative terms, with countries such as France, Italy, Spain and even Slovenia being owed more as a share of their gross domestic products.
Germany's relative immunity could strengthen Ms. Merkel's hand in coming talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Berlin officials have said repeatedly they wouldn't be "blackmailed" into rushing a deal ahead of the next large redemption of Greek bonds on July 20. Speaking Monday, Sigmar Gabriel, German economics minister and vice chancellor, made it clear he wasn't afraid of a default. "The ultimate insolvency of the country seems to be imminent," Mr. Gabriel said, adding that it was up to Greece to prevent it.
But Germany's resilience could also make it more difficult for Ms. Merkel to sell an agreement with Greece to her conservative allies in parliament, which has a veto on any deal. Some economists have said a default could end up being cheaper for Germany than a third bailout.
"The potential loss is painful, but manageable," said J๖rg Kramer, economist with Commerzbank AG. "If Greece wants to pursue a different path, then it should leave the monetary union. A Grexit would be better than a sellout."
Write to Andrea Thomas at andrea.thomas@wsj.com and Bertrand Benoit at bertrand.benoit@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 06, 2015 14:06 ET (18:06 GMT)