Powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble kept the pressure up on the leftist Greek government on Tuesday, a day after a compromise between Athens and creditors bringσ back the latter’s negotiators, as he said new interventions are needed in Greece’s social security system.
Schaeuble, speaking from the sidelines of aν Ecofin conference in Brussels, charged that Athens is unable to implement more “corrections’ in the country’s pension system due to “political concerns”.
“That doesn’t mean, however, that they cannot implement these measures later,” he pointedly said.
He also made it clear that no agreement has been reached as yet between creditors and Greece over medium-term fiscal targets after the ongoing third bailout ends (August 2018).
Official Athens, however, appeared oblivious to the most recent Schaeuble “volley”, with a government spokesman telling local reporters that “the agreement at the Eurogroup” is a decisive step to conclude the now delayed second review of the Greek program.
Spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said that “after yesterday’s progress (at the Eurogroup), and following concessions by all sides, now is the time for Germany to take the path of realism … We are awaiting from the German finance ministry to back down from the unreasonable demand for primary budget surpluses of 3.5 (of annual GDP) for a decade, and to adopt a productive stance, so that a medium-term relief for the Greek debt is achieved.”
