Skip to main content

Tsipras: No return to markets just for a publicity stunt

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras clarified on Thursday evening that any foray into the markets by still bailout-dependent Greece won’t be attempted as a mere publicity stunt.

“Greece won’t turn to the markets protected by a ‘sanitary cordon’ just for the sake of publicity; it will do so on its own merit and with the prospect of (economic) sustainability,” he told participants at an Economist conference at an Athens seaside resort.

In echoing repeated statements by Euro zone officials and the latest leitmotif in official Athens after the June 15 Eurogroup meeting, Tsipras said his government will not seek a new credit line linked with yet another round of commitments by Athens, but instead will forever leave behind the memorandum bailouts.

At the same time, he referred to proposals by creditors that often bordered on the “irrational”, whereas he said that the successive over-performance in meeting targets, as he said, is a “key” to restoring the country’s credibility.