The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis argued that the Greek government has an “alternative plan”, when asked what would happen, should the final loan tranches not be paid out, without however further elaborating.
Mr. Varoufakis, who made the statement at the event for the 130th anniversary of the French-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce where he was a main speaker, further commented that there were no plan for a third loan “which Dijsselbloem has also refuted”. He added that the goal was to escape lending, but conceded that the three main problems that need to be addressed were investments, primary surpluses and debt payments.
The Finance Minister noted that after presenting a list of reform proposals at Monday’s Eurogroup, the country will enter a phase of stability. He called German Chancellor Angela Merkel as an “agent of stability in Europe” and estimated that her reference to the “troika” was out of “habit”, since the term has been used for years.
Later in his speech, Mr. Varoufakis revealed that government expense cuts would be implemented as “alternative measures” in order to cover the cost of the bill that has been introduced to tackle the humanitarian crisis.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister stated that there are plans to introduce legislation to safeguard the public interests in privatizations and joint ventures, particularly in sectors where the State is unable to invest. He also repeated his proposal of a “New Deal” from the European Investment Bank, by issuing its own bonds.
