LONDON: Bookmakers slashed the odds on Greece abandoning the euro after an anti-austerity coalition swept to power on Monday, with one of the companies even suspending betting.
Irish betting company Paddy Power said it was taking bets with odds of 4/1 on the troubled economy abandoning the bloc before 2018, meaning a successful bet of one pound would result in a win of four pounds.
This compared with odds of 8/1 last month.
The radical left party Syriza stormed to victory on the back of promises by its leader Alexis Tsipras to end "disastrous austerity" and seek a cancellation of Greek debt, putting Athens on a collision course with its international creditors that some fear could lead to it leaving the euro.
"Other countries suffering from the effects of austerity will be watching on with interest as the Syriza government lock horns with the EU and should the Greeks come out on top it will be their greatest triumph in Europe since Euro 2004," a spokesman said.
Britain's William Hill also more than halved its odds to 1/5 compared with 1/2 previously so five pounds would be required for a one-pound gain compared to just two pounds previously for a one-pound win before.
"If any country is ever going to quit the eurozone, you'd have to think that Greece is overwhelmingly the most likely to be that country," Graham Sharpe, a William Hill spokesman, said in a statement.
Alex Donohue at Ladbrokes said they had stopped taking bets.
"We are not currently accepting a bet on Greece leaving or announcing to leave the euro this year due to uncertainty in the wake of the election result," he told AFP.
Ladbrokes last offered odds of 4/5 at the beginning of January, before the election.
Alexis Tsipras, a 40-year-old former Communist youth activist, was sworn in on Monday at the helm of a coalition dominated by his radical leftwing Syriza party which came first in Sunday's elections.
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