Merkel she wants Greece to stay in euro zone, but bailout terms must be honoured
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Merkel says she wants Greece to stay in euro zone, but bailout terms must be honoured
Germany’s Angela Merkel has played down the chances of a Greek exit from the euro zone, but made clear she expected Athens to stick to the terms of its international bailouts after this month’s election.
The chancellor addressed the issue on Wednesday for the first time since a German magazine said at the weekend her government had shifted its stance and was ready to accept a “Grexit” if Athens failed to meet its commitments under EU/IMF rescue packages totalling 240 billion euros (HK$2.2 trillion).
The leader of the left-wing Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, has pledged to reverse reforms and secure debt forgiveness from Greece’s partners if he wins the election. Syriza currently holds a narrow lead over the centre-right New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
“I as German chancellor, and also the German government, have always pursued a policy of Greece staying in the euro zone,” Merkel told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
She said she had “no doubts whatsoever” that the Greek situation would be brought to a “successful conclusion”, but stressed Athens needed to continue to respect its commitments if it wanted its partners to show solidarity.
German officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that scenarios, including a possible Greek exit, were being examined by technical experts in the government.
As they plan for a possible clash with a new Greek government over bailout terms, they are also exploring a political compromise with the Syriza leader should he take power after the January 25 election.
The officials say they view the chances of a so-called “Grexit” as extremely slim and express confidence the euro zone could clinch a deal with Tsipras if he wins and is able to bring together a ruling coalition, which is far from certain.
“He needs to win first and then form a coalition. It will take a while,” one senior official said.
“This is not about the survival of the euro zone, but finding a politically acceptable compromise.”
Joerg Asmussen, a deputy labour minister and former member of the European Central Bank’s executive board who had extensive dealings with Greece at the height of the euro zone crisis, knows Tsipras and has kept in touch with him, people familiar with the matter said.
Although any formal negotiations with Tsipras are seen as premature before the outcome of the election is clear, there is a sense in both Berlin and Brussels that if he wins, a deal would be possible.
Outright debt forgiveness is being ruled out, but an extension of Greece’s EU loans beyond 30 years appears to be an option EU partners could accept.
“I don’t think Syriza would become a kamikaze party if they come to power,” said one euro zone official.
“They understand they cannot be completely crazy and have to take into account the realities of life.”
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allow greece to pay their debts with 0% interest taxes… They pay that way because they can, and all this circus of exploitation ends... Simple, this is just a case of Germany and others trying to steal and put countries in a servant position.
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Merkel wants a hot wurst in her Eurozone
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Why should Greece be allowed to pay back the money at 0% interest, when the countries that bailed them out have to pay interest on the money they borrowed to bail them out?
Tell you what, I need £30k for our new extension, so you borrow the money and then give it to me. I'll repay the £30k, no problem. You repay the 7% interest on that loan. Great deal for everyone involved.
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Why Greece must accept paying 7% interest when, for all we know, that providers have a lower cost than 1% ?.
As far as I can what is being negotiated is that Greece can continue to pay their debts at a reasonable cost to start stimulate its economy with the savings would suppose him in the payment of interest, ie, their "partners", " neighbors' and suppliers do not want to earn much money and allow to stimulate its economy to grow.
Personally I find it more reasonable for everyone, whether raised this as a simple common market have to make sure your client, in this case Greece pay you what I paid and if you propose as Europe we have to do is think European citizens we should stimulate them for recovery.
You can call me naive but I think eventually think about the option of helping your neighbor to grow you will pay much better debt.If the translation is not correct, sorry, it's the fault of Google
¿Por qué Grecia debe de aceptar pagar el 7% de intereses cuando, de todos es sabido, que para los proveedores tiene un coste inferior al 1%?.
Hasta donde yo se lo que se esta negociando es que Grecia pueda seguir pagando sus deudas a un coste razonable para poder empezar a estimular su economía con el ahorro que le supondría en el pago de intereses, es decir, que sus "socios", "vecinos" y proveedores no quieran ganar tanto dinero y permitan estimular su economía para ir creciendo.
Personalmente me parece lo más razonable para todos, si planteamos esto como un simple mercado común tienes que asegurarte que tu cliente, en este caso Grecia te pague lo prestado y si lo planteamos como Europa lo que debemos hacer es pensar en los ciudadanos europeos que deberíamos estimularlos para su recuperación.
Podéis llamarme iluso pero quiero pensar que, finalmente, se pensara en la opción de ayudar al vecino a que creciendo podrá pagar mucho mejor la deuda.Si la traducción no es correcta, lo siento, es culpa de Google
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Greece created it's own problems. (see the other active thread on Greece)
49% tax evasion (in 2005) even before the global economic crisis is pretty extreme. If you look at that other thread, the numbers are disgusting. People keep trying to place all the blame on the rich, but the facts don't bare that out. The entire nation actively participated in running their country into the ground.
My taxes have skyrocketed, while government service have been slashed. Much of this is to do with the various bailouts the UK has taken part in. Why should I have to pay for the horrible actions of others?!
Then there was the threat a couple weeks ago from Greece to let all the terrorists into Europe if they didn't get their way.
The 7% was an example, not the actual amount Greece has to pay. At least that I know of.
My point is that the indebted nations need to pay the entire amount to service their loans, just like anyone else would have to.
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pues claro que hay que pagar, pero no es solo eso, para poder hacerlo hay que ingresar y tal y como esta su economía, su evasión fiscal y la fuga de capitales hay que estimularles de alguna manera para que puedan hacerlo.
but of course you have to pay, but not only that, but to do so you must enter and as this its economy, tax evasion and capital flight have to encourage them in some way for them to do.
