BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not fear that
her government coalition could break up, a spokesman said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Merkel had claimed there was no rift in her coalition
over support for Greece. She nevertheless rebuked remarks by her
economics minister, Philipp Roesler, that an “orderly” default for
Greece must no longer be a taboo. Roesler heads the free-market oriented
FDP, the junior partner in the coalition with Merkel’s center-right
CDU/CSU bloc.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert was asked today if the
chancellor saw any reason to speculate about an end of the coalition.
Seibert replied “No” and stressed that there existed “common European
policy goals to which all [cabinet members] feel committed.”
FDP parliamentary leader Rainer Bruederle said in a television
interview earlier today that the FDP sees “no reason at all” to leave
the government coalition. “We want advance reasonable things” in
government, he said.
Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Kotthaus said today there are
currently no deliberations underway over an orderly default of Greece.
Seibert confirmed that Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will hold a telephone conference
this evening. The implementation of the Greek reform program will likely
be a topic, he said.
Commenting on remarks by European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso that the Commission will soon present a paper outlining the
different options for jointly-issued debt instruments, Kotthaus said the
government remains “very skeptical” towards the idea of eurobonds.
Turning to the broader impact of the crisis, Kotthaus said there
were currently no signs that inter-bank lending is slowing to the
degree seen after the Lehman collapse. There are also no signs of
increased cash withdrawals by savers, he said.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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