The Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has denied Germany’s allegations that the Greek Finance Ministry has started procedures to receive a third aid package.
“We do not need a new, third aid program,” Samaras told the German newspaper, Bild. “We are reaching the goals of our current program and it is showing results,” he added.
The German weekly newspaper, Der Spiegel, invoking a five-page document by Germany’s Finance Ministry, had reported that a new aid package between 10 to 20 billion euros would be released in the next months. However, the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, has excluded such a possibility. “What is sure is that any further aid would be much less expansive than whatever help so far,” he reported.
The Greek Prime Minister also denied claims that Greece hasn’t proceed with structural reforms, saying that the country carried out 76% of its commitments in 2013. Samaras rejected Bundesbank’s suggestion of a one-off wealth tax, noting that wealthy Greeks, including shipowners, are being taxed properly.
Samaras commenting on a European Central Bank study, according to which Greeks are wealthier than Germans when property ownership is taken into account, said that this is not the case as the numbers and property prices mentioned in the research are incorrect. “Property prices have fallen greatly during the crisis.”
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