German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday put an end to Greece’s wish to ease its debt any time soon, despite the Greek government’s insistence.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced in parliament on Tuesday that the issue of debt relief will be discussed with creditors before the end of the year. Yet, Germany, Greece’s biggest lender, does not share the same view.
The German minister stated that Greece doesn’t have any difficulties making its debt repayments and the interest rate is very low. He reiterated his view that no strong measures are needed to lighten the Greek debt at present.
Regarding the International Monetary Fund, Schaeuble insists on his view that it should remain active in Greece, without clarifying though if the Fund would contribute financially in the program or remain in the negotiations as technical advisor.
Earlier, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos European Stability Mechanism president Klaus Regling met in Luxembourg on Wednesday to discuss measures to make Greece’s debt sustainable. Regling said that ESM experts examine a set of measures that might be suitable. Tsakalotos told reporters the ESM measures must be agreed on by the end of 2016, so that the IMF can use them in its debt sustainability analysis.
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