A German finance ministry spokesperson on Monday said the Greek government must first implement agreed-to reforms – as negotiated with institutional creditors – before whatever relief measures for the Greek debt are examined.
The statement comes days after an agreement, in principle, between the embattled Tsipras government and creditors was achieved just ahead of a Eurogroup meeting in Malta. The agreement aims to finalize the last details and allow for the conclusion of a now year-old delay in a second review of the Greek program.
Nevertheless, immediately afterwards the Greek FinMin said the measures will only be implemented if debt relief measures are listed. That statement was echoed over the weekend by the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, who also cited the “condition” in an address to his leftist ruling party’s central committee.
The German spokeswoman, in fact, pointed directly to the two major austerity measures that Athens begrudgingly accepted, namely, more pension cuts in 2019 and a lowering of the tax-free annual income threshold, set for 2020.
The high-profile comment by the German ministry spokeswoman, which essentially counters the Greek government’s conditional interpretation of the new austerity measures, comes hours before a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Among others, the issue of Greek debt relief is expected to be discussed.
