Chapter 256 Financial Crisis

"On land, the Balkan Peninsula is a place where major European powers compete fiercely. Greece needs to actively and cautiously expand to the Balkan interior and Asia Minor to fill the political and military gaps left after the decline of the weak Ottoman Empire."

"Greece is obviously not an Eastern country, nor a Western country, but a country located between the East and the West, where the East and the West meet. If the New World (America) is ignored, Greece is at the center of Eurasia," Constantine said to everyone in the conference room.

"If Greece wants to become a great power, it must recognize this point. This is both Greece's advantage and its disadvantage."

After listening to Constantine's explanation, the Greek military and political officials and senior officials in the audience have roughly understood Constantine's central empire strategy.

The so-called central empire strategy is to be based in the center of Eurasia and Africa, radiate in all directions, and enhance Greece's influence.

The senior officers of the navy and army naturally showed joy on their faces. Since they are expanding, they must increase investment in the army.

In contrast to the joyous military personnel, the government looked bitter. There was no way. If this continued, the government's fiscal deficit would become larger and larger.

"Your Highness, your vision for the future of Greece and the strategic plan for Greece are indeed very grand and magnificent, but are they a little too, uh, unrealistic?" Prime Minister Venizelos said hesitantly.

"Greece is currently just a small country with a shallow foundation. I hope your strategic plan can take this into account," Venizelos said earnestly.

Originally, I wanted to give a high-minded evaluation, but considering the face of the royal family, I used more euphemisms.

Constantine had expected the attitude of the prime minister and the government. After all, large-scale investment in the army and navy would undoubtedly make Greece's already tight finances even worse.

To be honest, this strategic concept does have some whimsical elements. Is it just a dream? It still has to be there, just in case it can be realized?

Just like the slogan shouted by President Monroe of the United States: "America is America for Americans", how many people would think it is possible at that time?

"Mr. Prime Minister, as Kontoriotis said, strategic planning must naturally maintain a certain degree of foresight and redundancy," Constantine said with a smile.

"Ah," sighed, seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was determined, Venizelos stopped admonishing and said, "In view of the increasingly serious fiscal deficit problem in Greece, it has reached the point where it must be solved. Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I invite you to attend the ministerial meeting held at the Prime Minister's residence this afternoon to solve the problem of government funding shortages."

Since the royal family is so generous, let you also feel the pain of raising money. It is easy to pay back money, but it is difficult to make money. This is Venizelos's voice at this time.

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That afternoon, Constantine took a carriage to the Prime Minister's residence.

When Constantine came in, there was a quarrel in the reception room. Armament Minister Yannis and Navy Commander Kontoriotis were entangled with Finance Minister Laris and Prime Minister Venizelos.

"Prime Minister, our navy is in urgent need of continuing to purchase several new German submarines. In any case, you need to allocate a sum of money," Kontoriotis said anxiously.

Yannis, who represented the army, was naturally not polite: "Minister Laris, our army is now actively preparing for war, and funds should be allocated to the army first."

Laris, who was already a little impatient, shouted: "I also want to know where to get the money now. Can't you wait a little longer? Once the income of the tax department arrives next month, I will immediately allocate it to you."

When the two were entangled with Finance Minister Laris and Venizelos, Constantine came in.

But he saw that there were a few familiar people in the Prime Minister's residence, that is, the three managers of the three major banks in Greece, the Royal Bank of Greece, the National Bank of Greece and the Alpha Bank.

Seeing Constantine's surprised look, he didn't expect to see three people here.

"The three managers are invited here," Venizelos explained, while inviting Constantine to sit down.

Venizelos nodded to Laris, who took out a stack of documents from his desk and handed it to him. Venizelos took it and put it in front of Constantine: "Your Highness, Greece is now spending money everywhere. In addition to the previous budget, how many budget items have been added later. You should also know that even if the Ministry of Finance has more money, it is not enough! If the government's income still cannot cover the expenditure, the Greek government will soon face a financial crisis. The specific situation is here, please take a closer look."

Constantine found the information and checked it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more shocking it was. Even though he had been mentally prepared for the huge expenses of the war, he still felt scared when he saw the words on the document.

Although the war in 1912 lasted only a few months, the Greek Ministry of Finance paid 600 million drachmas for this war, not including the cost of comforting the casualties.

That’s not all. Greece is now gathering troops in Macedonia, and the backward transportation conditions in the Macedonian region are also continuing to change, which are two more huge expenses.

According to the data, Greece's fiscal deficit in 1912 was 230 million drachmas; the estimated fiscal deficit in 1913 was 360 million drachmas; and in 1914 this number will become 690 million drachma million drachma, this number almost catches up with Greece’s annual fiscal revenue!

"If the fiscal crisis cannot be solved as soon as possible, I am afraid that the Greek government will fall before the war comes," Venizelos said with a wry smile.

Constantine pointed at the managers of the three major banks and asked in confusion: "Can't we continue to provide large treasury bonds to the three major banks? In this case, in the short term, the government only needs to consider paying 5% interest on the treasury bonds. The government’s financial strain can also be greatly alleviated.”

The Finance Minister was embarrassed and hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong, the three major banks are unwilling to issue government bonds on behalf of the government?"

After listening to Constantine's words, the manager of the Royal Bank of Greece, Coredis, explained: "His Royal Highness, if you forcefully demand that the Royal Bank must issue treasury bonds for the government, the royal family, as the major shareholder with absolute controlling rights in the Royal Bank, I will The general manager naturally has to obey orders.”

"Just as a professional manager, I must remind you, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, that the total deposits received by our three major banks are about 1.2 billion drachmas, and we have currently issued about 360 million drachmas for the government. of national debt, in other words, the Greek Treasury is now the largest borrower of our three major banks.”

"The three major banks are trying their best every day to find wealthy people who are interested in investing in government bonds to purchase government bonds and alleviate the banks' own difficulties."

"Currently, the three major banks are subject to the government's national debt problem, which has greatly affected the liquidity of the banks. The three major banks are unprecedentedly weak. Once there are some disturbances in the domestic economy and bank runs occur, His Royal Highness, I believe that the consequences of this will be No one wants to see it.