German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble gave an interview on Wednesday February 25 stating that it was not easy for the Eurozone finance ministers to reach an agreement with Greece regarding a four-month extension to the bailout program. Furthermore, he added that he was not yet convinced about the credibility of the Greek plan and the recent reform commitments.
According to Reuters, Schaeuble stated during the SWR2 radio interview that “it wasn’t an easy decision for us but neither was it easy for the Greek government because they had told the people something completely different in their pre-election campaign and afterwards.”
“The question now is whether one can believe the Greek government’s assurances or not. There’s a lot of doubt in Germany, that has to be understood,” said Schaeuble who urged German lawmakers to approve the Greek extension in a vote in parliament expected on Friday.
The Eurozone finance minister’s held a teleconference on Tuesday February 24, with the participation of IMF’s managing director Christine Lagarde, ECB’s president Mario Draghi and the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici green lighting the Greek reforms list that was submitted earlier in the day.
The Greek government’s proposal list includes commitments on tax policy, public finance management, revenue administration, public spending, social security reform, public administration and corruption, installment schemes, banking and non-performing loans, privatization and public asset management, labor market reforms, product market reforms, judicial system reforms and the humanitarian crisis.
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