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Dijsselbloem Says Greece Needs Aid

Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Jeroen Dijsselbloem

Joining a growing chorus of officials who said Greece will need another package of rescue aid, Eurozone chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem has acknowledged more financial assistance will be needed next year as international lenders have identified a hole of as much as $14 billion in the economy.
Dijsselbloem was questioned about similar remarks by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble this wee and was quoted by Het Financieele Dagblad as saying, “The problems in Greece won’t be solved in 2014, so something more will have to happen.”
Two bailouts of $325 billion have failed to right the faltering Greek economy that is still buried under a staggering $390 billion in debt, although Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that unrelenting austerity measures that he opposed before taking office – and which have created record unemployment – will nonetheless push the country toward recovery as soon as next year.
That would coincide with estimates by the country’s lenders that more aid would be needed, raising the specter of additional austerity measures that Samaras vowed he would not impose again.
But many European politicians have avoided discussing a politically unpopular new bailout because German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who backs aid to Greece but only on condition of punishing pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions, is up for re-election. Germany is the biggest contributor to the bailouts. Dijsselbloem said the form and size of any assistance will depend on Greece’s adherence to economic reforms.

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