German
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble does not expect a final agreement on a
cash-for-reform deal between Athens and its creditors at Monday's Eurogroup
meeting, he told a newspaper, warning against a Greek default.
The
minister, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Athens' financial
situation did not seem very good and he did not know if the Greek government
had an exact overview of its finances.
"Such
processes also have irrational elements," Schaeuble warned, adding:
"Experiences from the rest of the world have shown a country can suddenly
slide into insolvency."
Greece
expects its economy to grow at little more than a third of the pace it originally
targeted in its 2015 budget, a finance ministry plan suggested on Saturday. The
government has been ordering state entities to park idle cash at the central
bank to keep its finances liquid.
When asked
whether the German government was prepared for a Greek default, Schaeuble said:
"There are questions that a responsible politician must not answer."
However, he
reiterated that Germany would do everything to keep Greece in the euro zone
"under responsible conditions" and added: "It may not founder
because of us."
Greece's
left-led government was elected earlier this year on promises to end austerity
policies agreed by a previous government with the European Union and
International Monetary Fund, heightening the risk that it will default on debt
repayments and be forced out of the euro zone.
As so often
since the euro zone's debt crisis began in 2010, much hinges on Germany,
Greece's biggest sovereign creditor.
Greek Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras has spoken by telephone to Merkel several times this week,
officials said, without giving further details.
A source
briefed on German government thinking said Merkel was willing to take a deal to
continue financial support for Greece to an increasingly skeptical parliament
provided Tsipras made serious commitments on reform.
(Πηγή: reuters.com)
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