Schauble optimistic Greece can get back on its feet
A debt deal hammered out in Brussels last week will allow crisis-hit Greece to stand back on its feet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said in an interview published on Monday.
?If Greece achieves a 120 percent debt-to-GDP ratio by the end of the decade, then this will be the result of extensive debt reduction — through consolidation, growth and reforms. This engenders trust,? Schauble told German magazine Spiegel.
?However, 120 percent is merely an interim result, and Greece can’t allow itself to stop there,? he added.
After marathon negotiations in Brussels last week, European leaders persuaded bondholders to take 50 percent losses on Greek debt and boosted the firepower of the rescue fund to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) in a bid to save Greece from defaulting and curb a mounting crisis in the euro area.
?Private creditors will have to take into consideration that the only alternative to an agreement is no agreement, with all the consequences that this would entail, also for the private creditors themselves,? Schauble said, adding that he was optimistic that comprehensive structural reforms prescribed in the deal will enhance Greece’s flagging competitiveness.
However, the German said ?the problems have to be solved in Greece — not in Europe, but with Europe’s help.?
