BERLIN (MNI) – EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said
Monday that a decision on the Greek request for financial aid will be
made once Greek budget consolidation and structural reform measures have
been agreed upon.
“The financial support will be decided once the joint program that
is currently being prepared by the European Commission, the ECB and the
IMF together with the Greek authorities has been completed,” Rehn said
after a meeting here with Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
“We expect that this work will be completed by early May,” the
Commissioner said.
He asserted that all Eurozone member states are doing what is
needed to be ready on time to fulfill their part in the aid package
offered to Greece.
“I’m confident that all euro area member states and other actors
involved, including the ECB, the IMF and the [European] Commission, will
be ready to act according to the agreement that was reached in the
European Council in March and in the Eurogroup on the 11th of April,
Rehn said. He stressed that Germany was also committed to these
agreements.
Earlier today, Schaeuble said he was confident of getting a bill on
financial aid for Greece through the German parliament before Greece’s
next debt auction on May 19.
The Minister said an aid bill would be introduced into parliament
right after Greece had finished its deliberations with the European
Commission, the IMF and the ECB about further budget consolidation
measures over the coming years. “We’re pushing for these talks to be
finished by the end of the week,” he said.
Eurozone members have said they will provide up to E30 billion in
bilateral loans for Greece this year in a joint program with the IMF.
Germany’s share would amount to up to E8.4 billion. The exact IMF
contribution isn’t yet known.
Schaeuble said last week that most experts estimated the likely IMF
contribution at between E10 billion and E15 billion.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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