German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed confidence Wednesday that Greece will continue with its reform path following a cabinet reshuffle, and assured Athens that Berlin is willing to provide additional aid if needed.
“The change in the Greek finance ministry position doesn’t mean there will be a change in policy,” said Schaeuble following a meeting with former Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras, who was nominated earlier this week to become the country’s next central bank governor.
Schaeuble lauded Greece ‘s reform efforts and said the country has so far met all requirements for receiving previous multi-billion-euro aid packages from international creditors.
“We are willing to think about further measures if conditions…have been met,” Schaeuble said in response to a question about a third aid package following the previous two bailout packages worth a combined EUR240 billion ($326 billion).
Stournaras said Greece still has a funding gap, but he is optimistic it will be able to plug this without external aid.
He warned that one big problem is the liquidity shortage that plagues many southern European countries, including Greece.
“There have been positive steps undertaken by the ECB over the past days which give support to banks and companies,” Stournaras said.
(source: Dow Jones)
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