Among Germans surveyed this week for ARD public television, 78 percent agreed with the statement that “the worst of the euro and sovereign debt crisis is still to come”.

And 56 percent said “I worry about my savings” while roughly the same share (53 percent) said the turmoil buffeting the common currency would hit their personal income or assets in the long run “to some extent”.

About one in four – 27 percent – said the impact would be “strong” while just 16 percent believe it would have no impact.

More than half – 55 percent – think “the German government would have done better to hold onto the deutschmark” rather than introducing the euro.

But 70 percent said “the euro will withstand the current crisis and still exist in a few years”.

Frustration with debt-mired Greece continues to run high in the run-up to fresh elections there, with a strong majority – 83 percent – saying that Athens should leave the eurozone if it fails to implement the bailout conditions imposed by its creditors.

The pollsters conducted the telephone survey June 4 and 5 among 1,001 randomly selected Germans of voting age with a margin of error of 1.4 percent to 3.1 percent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as the leader of the eurozone’s top economy, is under huge pressure from international partners to forge a clear path out of the crisis.

But domestically polls indicate German taxpayers harbour deep fears they will be asked to foot the bill for any ambitious measures to beat back the turmoil threatening to engulf eurozone members such as Greece and Spain.

AFP/hc