FINANCE | 05.03.2010
Berlin and Athens agree: No bailout for Greece
Ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in an interview that he was not coming to Germany cap in hand, looking for a bailout.
In response, German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle made it clear that no money would be forthcoming.
'Get your house in order'
Papandreou told Merkel that he didn't want a cent from Berlin, and "the German government does not have the intention of giving them a single cent," Bruederle told reporters on Friday in Berlin.
Athens 'won't get a cent', Bruederle says
"Every EU member nation has to get its house in order by itself," which means that the Greek government has to "consistently adhere" to its new austerity plan, Bruederle continued.
In Athens late Friday, the Greek parliament will vote on Papandreou's government's new austerity plan, which includes 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 million) in wage cuts, a pension freeze, and tax increases. The scheme aims to get Athens' debt mountain under control without strangling economic growth.
Wanted: better borrowing terms
But Papandreou did tell the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that his aim in coming to Berlin was to seek support on securing better borrowing terms from his European partners. Greece needs to be able to borrow money at "reasonable conditions," he said.
He pointed out that currently, Athens pays 750 million euros more on a 5 billion euro loan than Germany does.
"No EU country can survive that," Papandreou told the paper.
And he warned that without political support for the better borrowing terms, the crisis in the Greek economy "could prove very expensive for all of Europe."
In Athens, workers have protested the austerity plan
Fighting against speculation
Speaking to the FAZ, Papandreou also called for a unified fight against speculation.
"While we are cutting salaries and extra pay for people in this country, speculators are earning millions by playing with the Greek economy," he said. "It is something we need to examine both on the international and European level: We can't let the market play with our fate."
Meanwhile, police in Athens are bracing themselves for further protests. The government's unveiling of its austerity plan sparked widespread protests from leftists and trade unions on Thursday and Friday.
jen/AFP/AP/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Rob Turner
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