Merkel urges Greece to decide quickly on rescue
Source: Agencies |
February 7, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece yesterday to make up its mind fast on accepting the painful terms for a new EU/IMF bailout, but the country's political leaders responded by delaying their decision for yet another day.
Failure to secure the 130 billion euro (US$170 billion) rescue - much of which Germany will fund - risks pushing Athens into a chaotic debt default which could threaten its future in the eurozone.
Speaking in Paris, Merkel expressed the exasperation spreading among eurozone leaders at seemingly endless wrangling in Athens that has yet to produce a definitive acceptance of the austerity and reform conditions demanded by the lenders.
"I honestly can't understand how additional days will help. Time is of the essence. A lot is at stake for the entire eurozone," she told a news conference with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But leaders of the three parties in the coalition government appeared to need at least one additional day.
The office of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former central banker, said that a meeting of leaders from the conservative, socialist and far-right parties due yesterday had been postponed to today.
However, it said Papademos would hold further talks with the "troika" of lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - later yesterday.
The party leaders, positioning themselves for a likely general election in April, have balked at accepting another package of deeply unpopular wage and pension and cuts and tougher tax enforcement measures.
Merkel made clear that her patience was wearing thin on a deal that affects not only Greece but the wider currency bloc, which fears that a default would hit much larger economies such as Spain and Italy.
In a fresh sign of mistrust, the German leader said she and Sarkozy agreed Greece should deposit revenue to meet future interest payments in a special escrow account to guarantee that creditors were paid.
"We want Greece to stay in the euro," she said. But she added: "I want to make clear once again that there can be no deal if the troika proposals are not implemented.''
Failure to secure the 130 billion euro (US$170 billion) rescue - much of which Germany will fund - risks pushing Athens into a chaotic debt default which could threaten its future in the eurozone.
Speaking in Paris, Merkel expressed the exasperation spreading among eurozone leaders at seemingly endless wrangling in Athens that has yet to produce a definitive acceptance of the austerity and reform conditions demanded by the lenders.
"I honestly can't understand how additional days will help. Time is of the essence. A lot is at stake for the entire eurozone," she told a news conference with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But leaders of the three parties in the coalition government appeared to need at least one additional day.
The office of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former central banker, said that a meeting of leaders from the conservative, socialist and far-right parties due yesterday had been postponed to today.
However, it said Papademos would hold further talks with the "troika" of lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF - later yesterday.
The party leaders, positioning themselves for a likely general election in April, have balked at accepting another package of deeply unpopular wage and pension and cuts and tougher tax enforcement measures.
Merkel made clear that her patience was wearing thin on a deal that affects not only Greece but the wider currency bloc, which fears that a default would hit much larger economies such as Spain and Italy.
In a fresh sign of mistrust, the German leader said she and Sarkozy agreed Greece should deposit revenue to meet future interest payments in a special escrow account to guarantee that creditors were paid.
"We want Greece to stay in the euro," she said. But she added: "I want to make clear once again that there can be no deal if the troika proposals are not implemented.''
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