- Title: Germany's Schaeuble rejects debt relief for Greece
- Date: 18th November 2016
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE SHAKING HANDS WITH MODERATOR AUDIENCE SCHAEUBLE IN CONVERSATION ON STAGE AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER, WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE, SAYING: "If I take the IMF (International Monetary Fund) rules seriously, then I must insist that Greece in particular fulfils the requirements, the demands that it has to fulfil. And debt relief would not help with that. It was the Greek finance ministers (Euclid) Tsakalotos and (Yanis) Varoufakis who said 'our problem isn't debt relief, its competitiveness'. That's the issue and we must not allow ourselves to be distracted from that, even by a well-meaning speech by a man whom we in Europe appreciate even more now that we have seen the alternative." VARIOUS OF SCHAEUBLE ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER, WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE, SAYING: "In the long term, Greece cannot afford to maintain the living standards and social standards that it has today under its own steam. They are living far beyond their means - in proportion to their gross national income, they have much higher social security benefits and pensions than Germany. They cannot afford that. And because that is the case, these economic problems must be tackled if Greece is to get onto a better path in the long term." EUROPEAN BANKING CONGRESS LOGO AUDIENCE SCHAEUBLE SHAKING HANDS WITH MODERATOR
- Embargoed: 3rd December 2016 17:24
- Keywords: Germany Wolfgang Schaeuble debt relief Greece Obama
- Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- City: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Debt Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA00158Z15C7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday (November 18) reiterated his opposition to debt relief for Greece.
"If I take the IMF (International Monetary Fund) rules seriously, then I must insist that Greece in particular fulfils the requirements, the demands that it has to fulfil. And debt relief would not help with that," Schaeuble told the European Banking Congress conference in Frankfurt.
U.S. President Barack Obama offered support for such a mechanism for the recession-hit euro zone state during a trip to Athens earlier this week, when he said it was difficult to imagine a successful growth strategy without debt relief.
But Schaeuble said that competitiveness was the issue, and "we must not allow ourselves to be distracted from that, even by a well-meaning speech by a man whom we in Europe appreciate even more now that we have seen the alternative."
Athens signed up to a third economic bailout package of up to 86 billion euros ($93 billion) in mid-2015, but says it needs a long-term debt restructuring to exit the crisis.
In May, euro zone governments offered Greece debt relief in 2018 but left key details to be decided later in a compromise between Germany's tough stance and the International Monetary Fund's call for decisions immediately.
Following Obama's comments, a German finance ministry spokesman said Germany's position remained unchanged. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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