IMF-Berlin ‘distance’ the biggest hurdle for Eurogroup, say Schaeuble, Le Maire
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Arriving for his first-ever Eurogroup meeting on Monday, France’s new Minister for the Economy Bruno Le Maire expressed hope that this will conclude with a “global agreement” regarding Greece.
Achieving convergence between Berlin and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will require significant effort, the French economy minister said, because the initial positions of the two sides were “quite far apart”.
“This is the job of finance ministers, however, and I hope that a good effort will be made today,” he added.
Le Maire reported having a series of meetings with his Eurozone counterparts ahead of Monday’s Eurogroup, including his meeting with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin earlier the same day and Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, as well as a meeting with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Welcoming the “difficult” measures and decisions pushed through the Greek Parliament last week, Le Maire noted that Monday’s Eurogroup must arrive at an agreement that allows Greece to face the future in a more positive way. “I think this is in the interests of Greece but also the Eurozone,” he said.
In response to Schaeuble’s statement that he has not been given the German Parliament’s mandate to reduce Greek debt, meanwhile, Le Maire said that it was “possible to find solutions that do not require the approval of the German Parliament, provided there is imagination.”
Schaeuble hopeful that Monday’s Eurogroup will reach ‘political’ deal on Greece
Welcoming the package of prior actions voted by the Greek Parliament last week, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed hope that a “political” agreement will emerge at Monday’s Eurogroup on Greece and was optimistic that the second tranche of loans can be promptly disbursed.
“Today we will discuss mainly Greece and for this reason there is a general expectation that we will arrive at an agreement,” Schaeuble said in a doorstep statement as he arrived for the Eurozone finance ministers’ meeting. He noted that the institutions’ will present their reports and their assessment of the situation during the meeting.
“I hope that today we will have an agreement that concludes the issue politically. We cannot, of course, conclude the issue of the next payment. We need a compliance report and a series of other things. We are broadly, however, adhering to the line we decided last May in order to arrive at a political agreement and create the conditions for a prompt disbursement of the second tranche,” he said.
Schaeuble clarified that the agreement for the payment for the next tranche could not be finalised during Monday’s Eurogroup but the political ground rules could be laid down, so that the technical work that will culminate in a final agreement can be concluded in the coming weeks.
Regarding the participation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Greek programme, the German finance minister noted that the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis for Greece did not agree with that of the Europeans. “We must therefore find a solution that will allow the IMF to continue participating in the Greek programme without breaking its own rules,” he added. This would be one of the difficult issues at the meeting, Schaeuble said, while expressing confidence that a solution will be found.