MUNICH, Germany (MNI) – The Greek government must embark on
courageous, recognizable, and specific actions that will lastingly and
credibly consolidate its public budget, European Central Bank President
Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday.
Loans are not transfers, and indeed, they come at a cost, the
president stressed in prepared remarks for an economic summit at
Munich’s Ifo Institute.
They also come with strict conditionality, which must assure
lenders that the loans will not only be repaid, but also that the
borrower will be able to stand on its “own two feet over a multi-year
horizon,” the ECB president said.
“In the case of Greece, this will require courageous recognizable
and specific actions by the Greek government that will lastingly and
credibly consolidate the public budget,” he explained.
Trichet, who met Wednesday with German lawmakers, said his main
message to them was that a “fast parliamentary procedure [to approve
Germany's portion of EMU aid to Greece] was highly recommended in the
present circumstances.”
Trichet said flatly, “I will not comment on the negotiations that
are currently taking place in Athens.”
But, he said, “they have to be concluded by a courageous,
comprehensive and convincing multi-year program and I am confident as
regards the results of these discussions between the Greek government,
the European Commission, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund.”
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–Frankfurt bureau; +49-1736947935; tbuell@marketnews.com
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