By Nikos Bellos
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ECB President Mario Draghi said it was to the Eurozone’s benefit for a solution to be hatched for Greek debt relief, saying momentum must not be lost.
He spoke during an appearance at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.
The intervention by the Eurozone’s central banker was deemed as crucial, during a week that will decisively determine progress towards concluding the second review of the Greek program.
In answer to a question by New Democracy-affiliated MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos at the relevant Europarliament committee, Draghi said it is clear that concerns have emerged in discussions taking place within the framework of examining the Greek program over the country’s debt sustainability.
He also revealed that the first measures were prepared during the Nov. 7 Eurogroup meeting, with approval pending on Dec. 5, while echoing the IMF’s standing position of measures to ensure the sustainability of the foreign debt carried by Athens – most of which is now held by institutional creditors.
Asked by another Greek MEP, leftist SYRIZA’s Dimitris Papadimoulis, over opposition within the Eurozone to medium-term measures before the program ends in 2018 – not-so-veiled references to Berlin and German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble – Draghi laconically replied that it was significant not to disrupt the recent progress or lose the momentum gained.
On the broader eurozone level, he referred to obstacles in growth within the common currency area, such as low competitiveness, non-performing loans and limited progress on structural reforms.
