BERLIN (MNI) – The German government expects that Greece will not
meet the goals for fiscal consolidation and reform agreed with its
creditors from the EU and the IMF, Deputy Finance Minister Steffen
Kampeter said Wednesday.
“It is true that the [German] federal government expects that there
will be deviations from what has been agreed,” Kampeter told reporters
here. Any changes to the Greek program have to be approved by the
Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, he reminded.
Still, the deputy minister stressed that the report on Greece by
the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the
International Monetary Fund was not ready yet. “Thus, it is not clear
yet what the troika will recommend,” he said.
Overall, however, the European crisis response is beginning to
impact positively, Kampeter reckoned. “What has been done jointly by the
ECB and the EU in their respective fields of responsibility is showing
an impact now and is also been seen positively by the markets,” he
asserted.
Turning to Spain, Kampeter said it is up to Madrid to decide
whether it wants to apply for further fiscal aid from its Eurozone
peers. He noted, though, that yields on Spanish government bonds have
come down significantly over the last six to eight weeks. “This is often
overlooked in the current partially hysterical debate” about Spain’s
fiscal distress, he said.
Regarding today’s meeting of ECB president Mario Draghi with German
lawmakers here, Kampeter reckoned that the event had been “hyped” by the
media. He reaffirmed he does not believe that Draghi will say anything
interesting beyond simply explaining the central bank’s current policy
stance.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@mni-news.com
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