–Adds full quotes and more detail
BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Commission is confident that talks on
a multi-year programme for Greece will be concluded in the next few
days, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn
said on Thursday.
Details of an aid package for debt-stricken Greece, including the
terms of the lending and the conditions, are being hashed out in Athens
by delegations from the European Central Bank, the IMF and the European
Commission.
“I am confident that the talks will be concluded in the next days,”
Rehn said. “The outcome will be a multi-annual programme,” he said. He
added that funding to Greece would be conditional on the implementation
of fiscal consolidation and structural adjustments.
“I cannot provide you with the details today as we are about to
conclude the talks, but I can assure you that when we meet next time I
will give you all the details,” he said.
He said the deal would “give Greece sufficient breathing space from
the financial markets.”
“I want to underline that this exercise is not only because of
Greece but for every euro area member state and their citizens,” he
said, adding that maintaining the stability of the euro “is absolutely
crucial for our economic recovery and for steady growth.”
Greece’s Eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund have
offered the debt-stricken country a lifeline of loans worth E45 billion
this year and more in subsequent years.
“I have been in daily contact with and, just spoke again, with our
mission chief in Athens whose team has been working day and night to
complete their job there,” Rehn said. “In the past 10 days the experts
of the commission, the ECB and the IMF have worked extremely
effectively and hard with the Greek government.”
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
