–Adds Comments On Greece, Ireland To Story Sent At 13:43 EDT
BERLIN (MNI) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on
Thursday reaffirmed his opposition to issuing joint eurobonds to bail
out fiscally ailing Eurozone member states.
“Personally, I’m against eurobonds as long as we have an
alternative,” Schaeuble said in a speech at a German-Polish conference
here. The minister argued that eurobonds would destroy incentives for
member states to follow budget deficit rules in the EU.
Commenting on Dublin’s demand to have interest rates reduced on the
aid from its Eurozone peers, Schaeuble suggested that the country should
first hike its low corporate tax rates. “It is an abuse if you make a
taxation system that is unsustainable for your economy,” he argued.
Still, Schaeuble said he was “rather optimistic” that the efforts
of Greece and Ireland to overcome their debt problems would be
successful.
Turning to the Japanese catastrophe, Schaeuble said it was hard to
assess its economic impact on the Eurozone. “The best answer is to
strengthen the euro, to strengthen Europe as best as we can,” he said.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22-62-05-80, email: twidder@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$G$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$,MFX$$$]
