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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-02-07
CONTENTS
[01] Dijsselbloem: IMF report on Greece 'unnecessarily pessimistic'
[02] ND slams minister for saying Greece's inclusion in QE is a
'secondary issue'
[01] Dijsselbloem: IMF report on Greece 'unnecessarily pessimistic'
The recent IMF report saying that Greece's debt load is unsustainable
was "unnecessarily pessimistic," Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem
said on Tuesday.
According to reports in Reuters and "The Guardian", Dijsselbloem said he
was "surprised" by the IMF's most recent review of Greece while speaking
on Dutch television, while he suggested this was outdated due to recent
Greek growth.
Dijsselbloem said that Greece's creditors, which include the IMF as well
as Eurozone members, would still be prepared to ease terms of Greece's
debt further, if the country continues to cooperate on reforms. At the
same time, he ruled out any forgiveness of principal debt.
[02] ND slams minister for saying Greece's inclusion in QE is a
'secondary issue'
New Democracy strongly criticized State Minister Christoforos
Vernardakis on Tuesday for saying that the issue of Greece's inclusion
in the European Central Bank's quantitative easing is "secondary"
for the country, noting that these statements are "irresponsible and
opportunistic".
"Since October 2016, Mr. [Alexis] Tsipras stated it was 'absolutely
imperative' to enter quantitative easing. Mr. [Yiannis] Dragasakis had
stated it was imperative to be included in quantitative easing by March
2017, so as not to lose the deadline to return to the markets in 2018. Now
Mr. Vernardakis says Greece's inclusion … is a secondary issue. Their
behavior is irresponsible and opportunistic," the party said.
Speaking to Real FM radio station earlier in the day, Vernardakis was
quoted as saying: "Quantitative easing is a minor issue at the moment. It
does not follow that if we are not included in March, there will be no
life after this."
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