Renascent speculation over Greek debt relief measures, which picked up ahead of a looming agreement for a second review of the Greek program, shifted to Berlin this week, amid various press reports citing the prospect, but with the German finance ministry on Friday announcing that “no such measures are being prepared.”
The demand for debt relief measures has been tabled for months now by the IMF, which maintains that the country’s debt load must be rendered sustainable for it to participate in the bailout. That position also coincides with the view held by the leftist Greek government.
The latter, in fact, has warned that it will not implement a latest round of austerity measures, set for 2019 and 2020, unless debt relief is extended by European creditors. Of course, general elections are scheduled in the country in 2019, unless a snap poll is declared earlier, and at present, ruling SYRIZA party is trailing center-right New Democracy by double-digit percentage points in all mainstream polls.
In a more positive note, the German ministry said FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble is convinced that a May 22 Eurogroup session can serve as the venue where the second review of the Greek program can be conclusively achieved.
