goinggreek.info
The Agora => Greek News => Topic started by: Maik on Monday, 27 July, 2015 @ 14:43:23
-
Greece news live: explosive Varoufakis recording is leaked as ECB chief says debt relief no longer a question
France's central bank governor says creditors must explore best options for debt relief as creditors arrive to begin negotiations in Athens
11.05 ECB's Benoît Cœuré: we are not punishing Greece
The ECB have now released an English transcript of Benoit Coeure's comments in Le Monde today.
Notably, he says that the issue of debt relief is now no longer a matter of when but if. Here are his words in full:
The question is not whether Greek debt should be restructured, but how to do it so it really benefits the country’s economy. Hence the importance of making this restructuring, whatever form it may take, conditional on the implementation of measures that will contribute to strengthening the economy and ensuring the sustainability of the Greek public finances.
He also adds that the new bail-out conditions are not a form of "punishment" for the Greek people or an expression of "unbridled neo-liberalism".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11764792/Greece-news-live-explosive-Varoufakis-recording-is-leaked.html
A better deal for Greece is possible
Greece's debt is unsustainable. The International Monetary Fund has said so, and it's hard to find anyone who disagrees. The Greek government sees structural reform without debt reduction as politically and economically toxic. The main governing party, SYRIZA, has made debt reduction a central plank of its electoral platform and will find it hard to hold on to power -- much less implement painful structural measures -- absent this achievement.
Moreover, tax increases and spending cuts by themselves will only deepen the Greek slump. Other measures are needed to attract the investment required to jump-start growth. Reducing the debt and its implicit claim on future incomes is an obvious first step.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Chancellor Angela Merkel refuse to consider any cut in the nominal stock of Greece's debt to the European Union.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/199955/opinion/ekathimerini/comment/a-better-deal-for-greece-is-possible