BERLIN (MNI) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on
Thursday warned about the situation in Greece, as the country is
currently not meeting its consolidation goals.
“The situation is serious in Greece at the moment because the
troika mission has been interrupted,” Schaeuble said in a speech in
parliament on the first reading of the bill for the revised European
Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).
The troika of IMF, ECB and EU Commission experts had cut short its
surveillance mission to Greece temporarily last week when it was
discovered that the country would overshoot the limit set on its budget
deficit for this year.
“As long as the mission has not confirmed that the conditions are
met, the next tranche [of fiscal aid] for Greece cannot be paid out,”
Schaeuble reaffirmed. “There exists no decision leeway on this.”
Given the current difficulties of Greece to even meet the
conditions of the current aid program, “the debate about a second
program is very premature,” the minister argued.
Yet, once Greece has come back in line with the agreed
consolidation and reform goals, there might be a chance for a new Greek
aid program, he suggested.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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