Greece, Draghi: “We want agreement on Greece. But with strong agreement “- BBC

THE PRESIDENT OF THE ECB

Milan , June 3, 2015 – 15:39

     
     
 

It started around 22 Wednesday night’s meeting between the President of the Commission European Jean-Claude Juncker and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras greek in Brussels. Objective: To discuss the agreement to be struck between international creditors and Athens to unblock financial aid that Greece needs urgently. Tsipras has arrived on time at Commission headquarters, where he was received by Juncker. The prime minister would not comment either on his arrival or when posed with the President of the Commission in which he shook hands.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flew to Belgium with his proposal, to meet for dinner that President Juncker has on the table a counter set up with Merkel, Hollande, Draghi and Lagarde. The pressure to reach an agreement – even from the White House – is high, given that Athens threatens to trigger the default Friday. Creditors are ready to negotiate but “must be a strong agreement,” said ECB President Mario Draghi, and therefore must meet the needs of the Greeks who want growth, creditors who want to make ends meet and the governments of the Eurozone who do not want “discounts” special Athens.

“Will strong”

“The Greek economy can return to function smoothly and efficiently if you implement the right policies, and this applies to all countries, “Draghi said in response to questions on the case Greece. The country “must implement the right set of policies and measures that promote fairness but promote growth and fiscal sustainability.” There is “a general will and strong determination” to reach an agreement but “must be based on strong,” he reiterated Dragons, and “I think the same applies to the European Commission and the IMF.” Draghi also said that the Council shall assess “continuously” the situation of the collateral submitted by the Greek banks to obtain European funding on the basis “of the situation, the state of the negotiations and of the general. We’ll see how this impacts the quality of the collateral. We will have to make a decision, but for now it is too early to say anything. ” The ECB, finally, could also consider increasing the emissions cap soon permitted to Greece (15 billion and already sold out at the moment), but “when there are conditions to do so because the negotiations are still in progress “.

The agreement

An agreement between Greece and creditors “is approaching” , finds instead Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, he said “confident” and noted that Italy is not “vulnerable”. “The debt (public) will begin to fall – he explained – the financial wealth of the private sector is high, there is a low private debt.” The euro area also, he continued, “is much stronger today than it was two years ago,” thanks to the institutional reforms and the action of the ECB, which is “not only the quantitative easing.”

The cut debt

Berlin has however ruled out again and in categorically a new haircut for Athens. “Cutting the debt is not an issue,” the spokesman reiterated German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, responding to a question at a press conference in the German capital. The basis of the negotiations on the debt of Greece will be the proposal of the creditors is not that of the government of Athens, said Martin Jaeger, spokesman of the Ministry of Finance. “I have the impression that the list of reforms in Athens will not be the ultimate solution to the problem,” said Jaeger, explaining that instead an offer to Greece offered by the EU Commission, IMF and ECB would be “for us the basis for the relevant negotiations. “

Understanding the surplus

An agreement instead there would already be on the surplus, so far one of the great obstacles. Draghi today also opened in Athens, stressing that the goal should take into account the low growth. Creditors would have proposed a primary surplus (before, that is, interest payments) 1% for 2015, 2% in 2016, 3% for 2017 and 3.5% for 2018. The numbers They are well below 3% for 2015 and 4.5% for the following years under the Agreement signed by the executive last year. The gap narrows, therefore, between creditors and Athens, which would propose 0.8% this year and 1.5% next, but it is clear the government’s intention Tsipras for subsequent years. Distances remain on pensions, with the Greeks that resist any kind of cut and propose to raise the retirement age, and the labor market, with Athens does not want to implement the commitments made by the previous government that enable the mass layoffs.

3 June 2015 | 15:39

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