Powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble on Saturday again reiterated Berlin’s tough stance on the issue of Greek debt relief, saying no discussions will take place before the end of the current Greek bailout program in 2018.
Powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble on Saturday again reiterated Berlin’s tough stance on the issue of Greek debt relief, saying no discussions will take place before the end of the current Greek bailout program in 2018.
Schauble said any talks at present on whatever debt relief will “weaken” the Greek government’s emphasis on reforms. He also again repeated that the problem is not the level of the debt, per se, but weaknesses in Greece’s public administration and a lack of economic competitiveness.
He denied that Berlin was on a collision course with the IMF over the Greek program. The Merkel government has maintained that the IMF’s presence in the program is imperative, while the Washington-based Fund wants immediate and sweeping measures in order to make Greece’s debt sustainable.