Schaeuble Squeezes Stournaras to Stick to Austerity

As Greece prepares to lower the boom again on workers, pensioners and the poor to keep international aid coming, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned again that there can be no let-up in austerity measures and reforms.
The hard-liner told Greek Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras in a meeting in Berlin that, “Most important is that Greece fully implement its obligations,” referring to pending cuts of another $14.16 billion and other demands, including speeding the pace of privatization. Schaeuble also reminded Stournaras that, “It is central for Greece to implement fully its commitments,” his ministry said.
Inspectors from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) who are putting up a first series of $152 billion in rescue loans and withholding a second for $173 billion until the cuts and reforms are implemented, will release their report on Greece’s progress in October, which could determine whether the aid will continue. The last installment in the first rescue package, some $38.8 billion, also depends on Greece getting a favorable result.
With Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pressuring the partners in his uneasy coalition to go along with the austerity measures they opposed before the June 17 elections, Greece could be forced out of the Eurozone if it defaults, and jeopardize the bloc of the 17 countries who use the euro as a currency.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel – whose country puts up much of the bailout monies to save Greece – said she wants to keep Greece in the euro, but her government also has made clear that Athens must carry through unpopular budget cuts and economic reforms. Before he went to meet her and French President Francois Hollande late last month, Samaras said he wanted Greece to have two more years to implement reforms and meet fiscal targets but didn’t ask them, breaking a campaign pledge that he would try to renegotiate terms of the second bailout.
Stournaras asked for Berlin’s help in stabilizing the Greek economy and restoring development as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is falling. Stournaras also met with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. A statement published in the Frankfurt Rundschau, Westerwelle warned German politicians who are constantly carping about Greece that what they say travels outside the country and has serious ramifications.
He added, “The euro is not in crisis but is and will remain a stable currency. In Europe, we face a debt crisis which has developed into a crisis of trust. Our policy, that of financial discipline, of solidarity, and orientation toward development gives the same answers. At the same time though, we have to be careful not to harm our prestige in Europe and the rest of the world with statements that are instigated from political party tactics.”
(Sources: Kathimerini, Proto Thema, Reuters)