May 18, 2011
Top European Central Bank officials damned the idea of cutting Greece any more slack on its debt repayments Wednesday, repeating that Athens has to persevere with its rescue plan even though European governments are acknowledging that it may not be enough to turn the country around.
The ECB has started to look increasingly isolated in its refusal to countenance any changes to Greece's aid package, after Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday that a "reprofiling" may be necessary if Greece can't bring its debt down to a sustainable level. He didn't specify what he meant by the term.
Jürgen Stark, the ECB executive board member who led the central bank's negotiating team with the Greek government last year, and who was back in Athens for further talks Wednesday, told a conference that Greece "is solvent" if it carries out reforms as it is supposed to. Mr. Stark repeated that a restructuring would do nothing to solve Greece's problems as long as Athens continues to spend more than it raises in taxes.
"It is an illusion to think that a debt restructuring, a haircut, or whatever kind of rescheduling or restructuring you have in mind would help to resolve the problems this country is facing," he said.
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