Solid as a rock in a Wagner opera. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble brings the negotiations on the Greek debt to another level of the blatant blackmail. The current Greek aid program will end if the International Monetary Fund remains out of the program.
According to the spokesman of the German Finance Ministry, Schaebule will end the current aid program if the IMF does not participate.
The general understanding of all parties involved in approving the Greece program had been that the IMF’s participation was indispensable, a spokesman of the German Finance Ministry said on Monday. “To this extent, we continue to expect the fund to remain on board,” he said. “In case it does not, the minister has clarified that the program is over”. Then the Bundestag would have to deal with this issue again.
According to the ministry spokesman, the aim of IMF consultations on Monday is the regular IMF countries report, not the aid program.
I wouldn’t know that Schaeuble was authorized to end the current bailout program, as the IMF’s participation was not one of the prerequisites in the 3.bailout agreement.
The IMF implies its willingness to participate in the Greek program with funding provided the Greek debt was ‘sustainable.’. However it considers the short-term measures of the European lenders were not sufficient, and therefore the debt was not sustainable.
The IMF considers the primary surpluses of 3.5% as not achievable without further austerity measures.
Last Thursday, Schaeuble reportedly agreed with the IMF’s responsible for Europe, Poul Thomsen, to increase pressure on Greece so that the Greek government legislates now the additional austerity measures proposed by the IMF. Measures like pension cuts and tax increases for the poor should be legislated now and be imposed as of 1.1.2018, that is before the current program ends eight months later.
By blackmailing the Greeks with the IMF’s participation Schaeuble believes to win the tough hardliners among the German electorate.
Only solution for Greece is CDU loses the elections of Sept 2017. Yet it would take another half or another year, till the policies change. At the same time, Schaeuble and Germany in particular and the eurozone in general are being targeted by the US administration and Trump’s powerful millionaires and billionaires in his government.
PS at least there is someone putting pressure on Schaeuble…
But I thought SYRIZA told me everything will be OK?
Since you listen only to Schaeuble, I have no idea what you think you are talking about.
that’s why you should read more often KTG