(Corrects spelling in headline of item that ran at 1506 U.S. ET to pale,
not pail)
BRUSSELS (MNI) – The cost of restoring Greece’s debt to a sustainable
levels pales in comparison with the cost of failing to do so, Greek Finance
Minister Yiannis Stournaras said Thursday.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ meeting devoted
to the bloc’s long term budget, Stournaras lamented the fact that Greece’s
international bailout partners had failed to agree on new measures for his
country after 12 hours of talks that ended early Wednesday morning.
“At five in the morning we had found everything except E10 billion. That’s
less than 0.1 percent of EU GDP,” Stournaras said. “It would be truly a pity if
a deal failed because of this, when the costs of failure would be so much
greater,” he added.
Eurozone finance ministers will continue their efforts to find a deal for
Greece when they meet again in Brussels next Monday with top officials of the
International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission.
–Peter Koh, Brussels Correspondent, Market News +324-952-28374
[TOPICS: M$Y$$$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$,MT$$$$]
–email: pkoh@mni-news.com
