German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday rejected calls for any restructuring of Greek debt held by official creditors and said any question of giving the stricken country more time to meet its budget targets should wait on a report from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.
“In Europe, we all agree to wait for the Troika report and will then decide on the basis of the report,” Schaeuble said at a briefing here, shortly after arriving in Tokyo to attend the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
IMF Director Christine Lagarde said earlier Thursday that Greece should be given an extra two years to meet its budget targets.
At the same time, Schaueble made clear that an official sector involvement (OSI), which would see a haircut on Greek debt held in public hands, is not an option as it would legally prevent numerous member states from offering any fresh aid or guarantees in future.
He also noted that ECB President Mario Draghi has rejected any losses for his institution.
“Greece must undertake enormous adjustment efforts,” Schaeuble said, adding “there is no way around that.”
At the same time, he stressed that “there is no country that is thinking about exiting from the euro (area) at all and we are making utmost efforts to wipe out anxiety.”
Schaeuble also fiercely rejected calls by the IMF for looser fiscal or monetary policy in the Eurozone. He noted that the fund itself had identified excess liquidity and excessive deficits as key causes of the crisis but hand not offered any alternative solutions.
(source: MNI)
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
