Varoufakis: Greece did not need a new loan if debt is to … – Challenges.fr

Athens (AFP) – Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Saturday that Greece could do without a new loan if the debt was restructured his country, something strongly oppose its creditors.

Greece “can get out (without a new loan). A condition however is a major debt restructuring,” said Mr. Varoufakis in an interview with center-left daily Efimerida tone Sindakton.

The government led by the radical left Syriza was elected in January, including promising a 50% reduction of the country’s debt (amounting to 175% of GDP), in order to devote the funds for repayment of obligations to the country’s economic recovery.

The international creditors of Greece, however, had clearly stated that this reduction would not take place.

IMF and EU had agreed a partial restructuring of the public debt in 2012 to allow Athens to clean up its public finances.

To appease tumultuous discussions with its partners, the Government anti-austerity gradually abandoned the term “haircut” (“haircut”) of its rhetoric, an expression denoting the drastic reduction of the principal of its debt that Syriza would get public creditors of Greece.

Varoufakis itself, however, ensures that the debt is not sustainable and is not in the interests of creditors of Greece.

Athens, who has not got a penny its creditors since last fall, desperate for the release of 7.2 billion euros of rescue funds pledged by the IMF and the EU that the country needs to avoid a default and possible exit from the euro.

Asked Saturday to whether there had been discussions “behind the scenes negotiations” about a debt reduction, the controversial Greek Minister replied in the affirmative.

Mr. Varoufakis whose abrasive style annoys its European peers, described them as “conflicting partners.”

These are “partners governed by the fear that have caused the crisis and the + + solution of the crisis that everyone, basically, known to be unstable and prone to lead to new problems, “he added

He warned.” If the eurozone not change, she will die “, saying that” no country, not just Greece, should have reached a common monetary system so wobbly. “

The Minister also called lies qualifiers “punter”, “amateur” and “adventurer” reported by the press and its European partners have spoken against him during a tense meeting of the Eurogroup in Riga last week.

The Greek government continues to refuse the demands of the Eurogroup, even though Athens has blocked funds needed to ensure the daily functioning of the state and meet a series of loan repayments this summer.