“This has been a difficult week but it is an investment on a viable solution. The state will be able to pay salaries and pensions because we will have a deal by Monday, one way or another,” Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Greek radio on Friday.
Varoufakis said that banks work normally and state revenue is higher than expected, given the circumstances. The problem is paper money, he said.
“This week we received proposals [from creditors] that were better than the ones before. They closed our banks but they confidentially sent us a series of proposals. We could have signed one of them but we expect the people’s verdict,” Varoufakis said.
“If ‘No’ wins in the referendum, we will not have to ask for anything. They [creditors] will give it to us,” the Finance Minister added.
Asked why the government did not proceed with a referendum a week ago, Varoufakis said: “We had reached the point where the European Commission told us that we are very, very close. At that moment, was it reasonable to ask for an extension? We went to them and they changed their position. That shows that they did not want to sign [a deal]. It was one of the easiest Eurogroups for me. But when [German Finance Minister Wolfgang] Schaeuble spoke, he told us that this agreement does not hold, then five Finance Ministers told us that our proposal does not hold and cannot pass through their parliaments. They trapped us.”
Asked whether he will resign if Greeks choose ‘Yes,’ he said: “Of course I will resign if there is a ‘Yes.’ Allow me to wait for the final results. It is very simple. I had looked Greek people in the eye and I said: ‘They gave us a deal and we considered that it is not sustainable. So I give the floor to you. If you say ‘Yes’ I am going to agree but I will not sign this agreement. I will leave my post as a Minister but not as an MP.”
He also assured that bank deposits of Greek people will not be trimmed if they vote “No.”
“We are not Cyprus. Deposits were trimmed there because the banks were not creditworthy. They had a huge capital deficiency. Here, the European Central Bank says that banks have capitalization problems. They closed because ECB cut off liquidity. When they get the green light, the ECB will restart Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) and banks will open. Banks are working normally now. They are closed but they can do everything online,” Varoufakis said.
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