Saturday 20 June 2011
On the sidelines of the Eurogroup Council meeting that continues today in Luxembourg for a second day, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos made the following statement:
There is a firm belief in the Eurogroup regarding issues concerning Greece. There is an immediate and urgent need to regain the credibility of the country, with regard to the implementation of the Economic Programme.
In contrast to Ireland and Portugal, who appear to have a high degree of internal political consensus, Greece’s national unity has become a prerequisite for our partners whereas it should have been as the Nation’s self-preservation instinct.
The overriding aim is to develop a clear relationship of trust, to stabilize the situation, to have a disbursement of the fifth instalment. For that to take place, the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy and the implementation law must be voted [by Parliament] by the end of June.
In this Council, and ahead of the crucial dates, an important step towards the preparation of the disbursement of the firth installment has been taken.
It has also been accepted that official financial support is not sufficient and that the private sector should also be involved in addressing the problem of the Greek sovereign debt. This relates only to the completely voluntary participation of the private sector, in the form of rolling over at maturity bonds held by them in order to reduce Greece’s borrowing needs in the following years. It is obvious that this process must take place in such a way so that a credit event is avoided.
All that, constitutes the politically agreed basis for the new financial strategy, for a new programme that is being prepared right now. Therefore, we have plenty to do, on a daily basis. The political time has been compressed a lot; each day is of extreme importance and hence we cannot afford to waste a single hour.
I have already briefed the Prime Minister and tomorrow I will brief the Parliament in detail, as to where the country stands.
