French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire emphasized over the weekend, in a direct reference to crisis-bedeviled Greece, that obligatory budget surpluses are not enough to overcome a country's economic crisis. He also noted that more powerful Eurozone countries, such as Germany and France, but should invest more in boosting growth.
Le Maire spoke at an event organized by an association representing Germany's family-owned businesses, held in Berlin.
He also touched on a standing French proposal to link Greece's debt repayment rate with the country's annual economic growth -- i.e. a low GDP growth equaling a slower rate of debt repayment or even no servicing - emphasizing that this idea does not aim to "pool" an individual country's debt amongst its EZ partners.
Conversely, he said that despite the importance attributed to a "healthy" fiscal policy for EZ member-states, something that Paris also supports, Berlin must also show solidarity with weaker Eurozone members and support the latter in becoming more competitive.
