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24 April 2010

Kathimerini: Athens upbeat after aid talks with IMF chief


As officials from the Greek government and the IMF sought to send out reassuring signals about the immediate activation of a multibillion-euro rescue package for Greece, strong skepticism persisted in Germany and elsewhere about the prudence of dispensing aid without serious consideration.

 Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou issued a message of hope from Washington after meeting with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, for talks on the release of much-needed funding to debt-ridden Greece.
As Greek workers continue to protest austerity measures and the involvement of the IMF in a joint rescue plan with eurozone countries worth some 45 billion euros, the IMF’s Strauss-Kahn stressed that his organization had Greece’s interests at heart. “Greek citizens shouldn’t fear the IMF – we are there to try and help them,” said Strauss-Kahn, a former Socialist finance minister of France.
Germany stresses it could still say ‘no’ to Greece; France appears to adopt harder line
As officials from the Greek government and the International Monetary Fund sought to send out reassuring signals about the immediate activation of a multibillion-euro rescue package for Greece, strong skepticism persisted in Germany, the eurozone’s strongest economy, and elsewhere about the prudence of dispensing aid without serious consideration.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble stressed that Germany could still refuse Greece’s appeal for emergency loans. “The fact that neither the European Union nor the German government have taken a decision means the outcome could be positive or negative,” Schauble told the mass-selling Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The gradual release of funds “will depend on whether Greece sticks to the strict course on which it has embarked over the coming years,” Schauble said, adding that “the Greek finance minister has said this as well.” Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle did not mince his words. “We are not ready to write a blank check,” he was quoted as saying on Germany’s ZDF television channel. “It is not at all agreed that Greece will actually receive aid from Europe... There will only be aid if there is no other way of stabilizing our common currency,” he said.
France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who has been among the most supportive of Greece’s efforts among her eurozone counterparts, yesterday stressed the importance of “firmness” and vigilance. “We are all obliged to show solidarity [with Greece]... but that doesn’t mean we should be complacent,” Lagarde said in an interview with the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. The French minister said the aid would be released “according to [Greece’s] needs and, in the case of default on repayment, we will immediately step on the brake.”
 


© Kathimerini


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