Tsipras urges lawmakers to back tough reforms package
Print Edition
GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday appealed to his party’s lawmakers to back a tough reforms package after abruptly offering last-minute concessions to try to save the country from financial meltdown.
After walking into a party meeting to applause, Tsipras rallied his Syriza lawmakers to throw their weight behind the new proposals ahead of a snap vote in parliament on the negotiations, urging them to help keep Greece in the eurozone.
“We are confronted with crucial decisions,” a government official quoted Tsipras as telling his party colleagues.
“We got a mandate to bring a better deal than the ultimatum that the Eurogroup gave us, but certainly not given a mandate to take Greece out of the eurozone,” he said. “We are all in this together.”
It is unclear whether all the creditors would back the latest reforms package, which was strikingly similar to the terms Greece had rejected in a referendum Tsipras called in June. Germany sounded wary, with a finance ministry spokesman ruling out any debt reduction that would lower its real value.
But France, Greece’s strongest supporter in the eurozone, rushed to offer praise, with President Francois Hollande calling the offer “serious and credible.”
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem called it a “thorough piece of text” but declined to go into specifics.
“Broad support in Greece gives it more credibility, but even then we need to consider carefully whether the proposal is good and if the numbers add up,” he told reporters. “One way or the other, it is a very major decision we need to take.”
The lenders’ backing is crucial for eurozone leaders to support the proposals.
European markets rallied on the improved prospects for a last-ditch deal to keep Greece in the currency area, while Italian, Spanish and Portuguese bond yields fell, reflecting perception of reduced risk.
Nevertheless, Greece would have to overcome a hardening of attitudes toward it among its eurozone partners, including Germany, which has contributed more to Greek bailouts than any other country.
Finance ministers of the 19-nation euro area will meet today to decide whether to recommend opening negotiations on a third bailout program. A senior EU official said the meeting would include discussions on whether Greece needs some debt relief.
Greece asked for 53.5 billion euros (US$59 billion) to help cover its debts until 2018, a review of primary surplus targets in the light of the sharp deterioration of its economy, and a “reprofiling” of the country’s long-term debt.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
