BERLIN (MNI) – The German government supports Ireland’s request for
financial assistance from its European partners and the International
Monetary Fund, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared Wednesday.
“We have said the stability of the euro as a whole has to be
assured,” Merkel said in a speech in parliament. “And that is why…we
view Ireland’s request as positive.”
The chancellor once again stressed her determination to make
private creditors participate in future bailouts of Eurozone member
states when the current EU rescue funds expire in June 2013.
The governing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition government “has made its
decision,” Merkel said. “We are saying that in a permanent crisis
mechanism also private creditors — that is those who earn money from
elevated interest rates on government bonds — have to participate” in
future rescue measures, she explained.
Germany’s public deficit will amount this year to around 4% of GDP,
the chancellor said, vowing that budget consolidation will have priority
over demands for tax cuts.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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