EUROZONE-GREECE/DIJSSELBLOEM Dijsselbloem says Greece's stance must change for new bailout

Record ID: 149103

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/DIJSSELBLOEM Dijsselbloem says Greece's stance must change for new bailout
  • Date: 30th June 2015
  • Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (JUNE 30, 2015) (REUTERS) DUTCH PARLIAMENT EXTERIOR EUROGROUP CHIEF, JEROEN DIJSSELBLOEM, PREPARING FOR TELEVISION INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) EUROGROUP CHIEF, JEROEN DIJSSELBLOEM, SAYING: "This afternoon I received a letter from Prime Minister Tsipras, which we discussed tonight in Eurogroup. The letter basically consists of two requests. On
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADZ32JTKCX9TR3X5U3PDZ9NYZI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The chairman of the Eurogroup said late on Tuesday (June 30) that Greece is on track to default at midnight and Athens' stance towards its creditors would have to change before its eurozone partners could consider any additional financial assistance.
    "This afternoon I received a letter from Prime Minister Tsipras, which we discussed tonight in Eurogroup. The letter basically consists of two requests. One was to extend the old programme, to keep that umbrella, and the second one was to start talks about a second programme from the ESM (European Stability Mechanism), a different kind of programme. We discussed that but we had to go back to our conclusion already last Saturday, that an extension of the old programme simply isn't possible. Now it also isn't possible for practical reasons, it runs out in a couple of hours, but also politically the situation hasn't changed. There is no new ground to go back to that," said the Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
    Speaking after an emergency conference call between the currency bloc's finance ministers, Dijsselbloem said Greece's last minute request to extend its current bailout programme had fallen on deaf ears.
    "On the element of the extension, I think we are beyond that point. That comes too late for many reasons, and asking for a new programme is always possible, Greece is a member of Eurozone and it's a member of the ESM and it can ask for financial support. That is quite a procedure to go through, the institutions will again have to do a lot of work on that and in the meantime, as you know, the situation in Greece, in the Greek economy, in the Greek banks, has deteriorated even more unfortunately, so it's a very difficult path to consider," said Dijsselbloem.
    Dijsselbloem, who is also the Netherlands' finance minister, said any new programme might impose tougher conditions than the previous one.
    He said that, in any case, no new programme could be agreed until after Greeks have voted in a referendum on Sunday (July 5), and until the government's attitude changes.
    "I am just stating the facts: the facts are that the programme will expire tonight, and Greece, my information is that they will be in default tomorrow, because they will miss their payments to their creditors. That is something I don't think we can stop between now and tomorrow morning. What can change is the political stance of the Greek government that has led to this unfortunate situation. And what we could consider, but we will have another conference call tomorrow, is further talks on a new programme, but given the current political position that the Greek government is taking, it's very difficult to have constructive talks."
    "What can change is the political stance of the Greek government that has led to this unfortunate situation," he said.
    Greece will lose access to a 1.8 billion euro loan tranche, as well as 10.9 billion euros for recapitalising banks, when the country's financial aid package expires at midnight (2200 GMT), the eurozone's bailout fund said on Tuesday.
    Greece's aid programme is provided by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the forerunner to the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
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