what is grexit 
grexit an abbreviation for greek exit refers to greece s potential withdrawal from the euro zone and a return to the drachma as its official currency instead of the euro understanding grexitgrexit gained notoriety in early 2012 and remained in the financial vernacular for years after that many pundits and even some greek citizens floated the idea that greece should withdraw from the eurozone as a viable solution to the country s debt crisis leaving the euro and bringing back the greek drachma was thought to be a way to allow greece to recover from the brink of bankruptcy a devalued drachma could encourage overseas investment and allow other europeans to visit greece on the cheap by paying in the more expensive euro currency in this way proponents argued that the greek economy would suffer in the near term but could eventually recover with far less assistance from other eurozone countries and the international monetary fund imf perhaps even quicker than via eurozone bailouts however opponents argued that a return to the drachma would lead to a very rough economic transition and far lower living standards which could result in even more civil unrest some in europe worried that grexit could even cause greece to embrace other foreign powers that might not align with the interests of the eurozone opponents to grexit have seemingly won out at least in the years since grexit entered the discussion as of 2021 greece remains in the eurozone with help from bailout loans in 2010 2012 and 2015 1 although the term grexit doesn t make headlines as often anymore some have argued that grexit remains an eventual possibility greece continues to attract foreign investment and has implemented many austerity measures origins of greece s debt crisisgrexit points to decades old problems in greece such as high government debt tax evasion and government corruption greece first joined the eurozone in 2001 but its government revealed just three years later that economic data was falsified so the country would gain entry 1 