The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has for the first time accepted the prospect of the euro breaking up.
In its flagship economic survey of the world economy, the IMF acknowledged that there were fundamental "flaws" in the design of the single currency and said that one prospective "tail risk" is a "disorderly default and exit by a euro area member".
It is the first time the IMF has openly contemplated such an outcome.
Its previous forecasts disregarded such a scenario, and its managing director, Christine Lagarde , said earlier this month that it had no agenda to see the euro collapse.
The announcement comes amid growing consternation about the plight of Spain , which has suffered an exodus of bank deposits and is struggling to raise money at reasonable rates.
Many now believe that Spain could follow Greece , Portugal and Ireland in having an emergency bail-out.
The IMF said it was impossible to quantify the impact of a country defaulting or exiting the currency union.
But in its World Economic Outlook , it added: "If such an event occurs, it is possible that other euro area economies perceived to have similar risk characteristics would come under severe pressure as well, with a full-blown panic in financial markets and depositor flight from several banking systems.
"Under these circumstances, a breakup of the euro area could not be ruled out. The financial and real spillovers to other regions, especially emerging Europe, would likely be very large.
"This could cause major political shocks that could aggravate economic stress to levels well above those after the Lehman collapse." Quelle