Japonica Partners & Co Founder Paul Kazarian said in order for Greece to go back to the debt markets, it needs an alternative method of accounting. Kazarian, known for his purchases of Greek government bonds, told Bloomberg Businessweek that the accounting method of the European Union was completely irrational and called on Greece to adopt the International Public Sector Accounting Standards or IPSAS. He said doing so would provide bond markets with the audited financial statements like those seen by equity investors. He added that the EU method which measured the public finances of the member states exaggerates the indebtedness level of the nation.
He said, "If you really want to be back in the capital markets and soon, you have to deliver, you have to show some early wins. Show your debt number, give access to it and verify it, and then have the dialogue: 'So which number is right?' Is it a legal definition that has absolutely no economic rationality to it, or is the world-class standard the right debt number?"
In June, Kazarian initiated a tender offer for Greek securities. He would not state how many of the restructured Greek bonds are still held by Japonica after its EUR 4 billion tender of the securities matured in September. He said that if corporate world accounting practices were applied to Greece, a fair value of its 2013 debt would be assessed. Bloomberg reported that this year, the debt ratio of Greece is forecasted to be 176% of its gross domestic product. However, Kazarian said that under corporate accounting practices, the ratio would not even reach 100% of its GDP.
According to a Bloomberg report, Greece started the sovereign debt crisis in Europe in 2009 when the incoming government then said the previous government had concealed the real size of its budget deficit, saying that it increased to over five times the allowed limit of the Euro Zone.
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