The decision by the governments of European Union member states to cut Greece’s debt by 50 per cent has shown how wrong the Minister of Finance, Tonio Fenech, was when, at the beginning of the Greek crisis, he had said that “the millions we are lending to Greece will be given back to us with interest”!

Anyone with a modicum of common sense could foresee that Greece would not be in a position to pay us that money back. Besides, the EU’s decision has broken a sacrosanct principle – that sovereign countries must pay their debts.

The ramifications of this decision will undoubtedly un-fold in the months and years to come.