Greece would struggle to find creditors outside Europe, says Schaeuble

Greece would struggle to find creditors outside the EU and IMF, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.

He said it would be welcome to try to find investment from Beijing or Moscow, but may have difficulties.

His warning came after fears of a Greek debt default saw its borrowing costs jump 3.5 percentage points to 27%.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said his government refuses to consider leaving the EU: "Toying with Grexit... is profoundly anti-European."

He also promised to "compromise, compromise, compromise without being compromised" to satisfy current creditors. Both men were speaking at talks in Washington. On Wednesday, ratings agency S&P downgraded Greece's credit rating.

Yields also rose on longer-term Greek borrowing, with the 10-year bond yield - the amount investor’s demand for lending - rising one percentage point to 13%. Mr Schaeuble said that the Greek government needs to find creditors.

"The Europeans have said, OK, we are ready to do it [lend money] until 2020... If you find someone else, whether it's in Beijing, in Moscow, in Washington DC, or in New York who will lend you money, ok, fine, we would be happy. But it's difficult to find someone who is lending you in this situation amounts [of] €200bn." He added that Greece must focus on increasing its competitiveness and primary surplus. Mr Schaeuble was speaking after the Greek government's borrowing costs surged on Thursday.

(Πηγή: bbc.com)