13 Feb 2015
“Additional debt relief would not really change Greece's liquidity situation” – ECB’s Weidmann
FXStreet (Mumbai) - Speaking at a banking congress in London, President of Germany's Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said that more debt relief will not help Greece to solve its current liquidity crisis.
Key Quotes:
"the average maturity of Greece's debt is quite long and the average interest rate quite low, therefore additional debt relief would not really change Greece's liquidity situation by much."
"Any further relaxation of the agreed targets would be counter-productive to efforts to regain investors' confidence in Greece's debt sustainability. And that would come at the expense of tax-payers in other euro-area countries."
"Additionally, it would also be to the detriment of other euro-area countries' governments: it would be much harder for them to justify the rocky path of economic reform,"
"in Greece's own interest to do what is necessary to tackle the structural and fiscal problems it is facing"
Greece would "continue to need support, but support can only be given if the agreements made are complied with."
Key Quotes:
"the average maturity of Greece's debt is quite long and the average interest rate quite low, therefore additional debt relief would not really change Greece's liquidity situation by much."
"Any further relaxation of the agreed targets would be counter-productive to efforts to regain investors' confidence in Greece's debt sustainability. And that would come at the expense of tax-payers in other euro-area countries."
"Additionally, it would also be to the detriment of other euro-area countries' governments: it would be much harder for them to justify the rocky path of economic reform,"
"in Greece's own interest to do what is necessary to tackle the structural and fiscal problems it is facing"
Greece would "continue to need support, but support can only be given if the agreements made are complied with."