–IMF’s Lagarde: Giving Greece More Time Should Be An Option
FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Council will have to take the
necessary decisions on Greece in the second half of October, after the
Troika’s findings have been made available, Eurogroup President
Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday.
In a press conference at the informal ECOFIN meeting in Nicosia,
Cyprus, Juncker said it was unlikely the evaluation of Greece by the
Troika – made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and
International Monetary Fund – would be ready in time for decisions to be
taken at the Eurogroup’s next meeting on October 8.
“I don’t have the intention to wait until November. I would like us
to take relevant decisions over the course of October,” Juncker told
reporters. Yet, the delay in the Troika report’s findings means a
decision would likely be in the second half of the month.
Representatives of the Troika are currently on the ground in Greece
negotiating with the government on ways to close a fiscal gap that has
emerged for 2013 and 2014.
Juncker said the Greek government’s efforts to close that gap need
to include “real game changers.” But he said he was reassured by the
government’s commitment to undertaking fiscal reform.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, also at the press
conference, said that giving Greece more time to meet its deficit target
“needs to be considered as an option.”
“There is good work underway, progress made in order to fill this
fiscal gap that has been identified,” Lagarde said of the Troika
meetings.
Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said earlier Friday that
“there could be some time, not money” for the government to meet its
commitments. “But there could be no time for delaying measures.”
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: ccermak@mni-news.com
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