The medium-term goal of Greece’s return to the markets for its financing needs – rather than continued reliance on institutional creditors and partners – was a highlight of a joint appearance on Thursday by ESM chief Klaus Regling and Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.
Both men, however, went to great lengths to emphasize that such a prospect would come only under specific conditions, and is unrelated to Athens rejoining the ECB’s asset-purchasing Quantitative Easing (QE) program.
The managing director of the European Stability Mechanism and Greece’s “point man” in negotiations with creditors appeared at a panel discussion at an Economist conference held at the Lagonissi resort, southeast of Athens proper.
Regling emphasized that if progress continues in the Greek program he expects the crisis-battered to be in a position to regain investors’ confidence and return to the markets “before the end” of the current program, either this year or next.
The existing credit line included in the third successive bailout program ends in August 2018.
Meanwhile, Regling’s statements on a prime-time news program generated annoyance on the part of the leftist-rightist coalition government. The ESM managing director, and close associate of German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble, had recently reproached the Tsipras government by saying that “some ministers” rejected “ownership” of the current program and were still opposed to memorandum-mandated privatizations.
On Thursday his televised interview was aired on the Athens-based Skai channel.
One of the more controversial statements made by Regling, in answer to a press question, was his “ball park” estimate of 100 billion euros in losses for Greece as a result of the failed negotiations during the first half of 2015. He also cited a similar estimate of 83 billion euros in total losses quoted by Greece’s central bank, adding that the actual figure would be somewhat lower, or higher, but that the 100-billion-euro figure was a round number.
Additionally, he referred to the cultivation of excessive expectations on the part of the current government regarding medium-term debt relief, pointing out that measures announced during a May 2016 Eurogroup meeting were well detailed.
Regling also met with main opposition New Democracy (ND) president Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his time in Athens, with the latter posted on his verified Twitter account that “with Klaus Regling we had a sincere and productive exchange of views regarding the Greek economy.”
