McFeatters - Greece Bridles at Calls for More Reforms
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale McFeatters-
Wolfgang Schauble had implied that leaders like Papoulias are one reason Greece is in financial crisis and that the country might be better served by postponing its scheduled April elections and letting an interim government of appointed technocrats run things for a while – the implication being that they could hardly do worse than current management.
Schauble can get away with saying these things because he is the German finance minister and a key player in putting together the $170 billion bailout package that Greece needs next month to avoid default.
A $140 billion rescue package last May has proved inadequate, and Greece is still reeling from the austerity measures it was forced to accept to get that money. Unemployment is at 20 percent – 50 percent for youth – and there have been deep and painful cuts in wages, pensions and public-sector jobs.
And now the leaders of eurozone nations are demanding more reforms and even greater cuts than the leaders of the two parties that make up Greece’s coalition government had agreed to in writing. Such is the level of distrust between Greece and its 16 fellow members of the eurozone.
France and Germany would go even further and establish a special escrow account for the bailout money, with the spending overseen by a special panel. Not surprisingly, Athens regards this intrusion on its financial sovereignty as another insult from creditors that it is being forced to swallow.
Some analysts believe there is an element of poker-playing in all this, that the eurozone nations believe that now is their time of maximum leverage on Athens, leverage that will be greatly diminished once the bailout money is paid out. It is not an idle fear. Greece has a long history of failing to live up to its financial promises.
Other analysts believe that the $170 billion bailout, plus another $130 billion in relief from private lenders, won’t be enough to reach the goal of reducing Greece’s national debt to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 and that Athens will be forced to return for another bailout.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose nation is Europe’s richest and most powerful, is adamant that Greece should not be allowed to go bankrupt and drop out of the eurozone.
And to answer the Greek president’s question as to where Schauble gets off insulting Greece, the answer is simple: He works for Merkel, the leader calling all the shots.[[In-content Ad]]
Wolfgang Schauble had implied that leaders like Papoulias are one reason Greece is in financial crisis and that the country might be better served by postponing its scheduled April elections and letting an interim government of appointed technocrats run things for a while – the implication being that they could hardly do worse than current management.
Schauble can get away with saying these things because he is the German finance minister and a key player in putting together the $170 billion bailout package that Greece needs next month to avoid default.
A $140 billion rescue package last May has proved inadequate, and Greece is still reeling from the austerity measures it was forced to accept to get that money. Unemployment is at 20 percent – 50 percent for youth – and there have been deep and painful cuts in wages, pensions and public-sector jobs.
And now the leaders of eurozone nations are demanding more reforms and even greater cuts than the leaders of the two parties that make up Greece’s coalition government had agreed to in writing. Such is the level of distrust between Greece and its 16 fellow members of the eurozone.
France and Germany would go even further and establish a special escrow account for the bailout money, with the spending overseen by a special panel. Not surprisingly, Athens regards this intrusion on its financial sovereignty as another insult from creditors that it is being forced to swallow.
Some analysts believe there is an element of poker-playing in all this, that the eurozone nations believe that now is their time of maximum leverage on Athens, leverage that will be greatly diminished once the bailout money is paid out. It is not an idle fear. Greece has a long history of failing to live up to its financial promises.
Other analysts believe that the $170 billion bailout, plus another $130 billion in relief from private lenders, won’t be enough to reach the goal of reducing Greece’s national debt to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 and that Athens will be forced to return for another bailout.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose nation is Europe’s richest and most powerful, is adamant that Greece should not be allowed to go bankrupt and drop out of the eurozone.
And to answer the Greek president’s question as to where Schauble gets off insulting Greece, the answer is simple: He works for Merkel, the leader calling all the shots.[[In-content Ad]]
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