The chief of the European Stability Mechanism Klaus Regling challenged the perception that the bailout programs in Greece caused a drop in the country’s living standards, in an interview for Bloomberg.
In his interview on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring summit, Mr. Regling stressed that Europe was “working very hard” on coming up with a solution to the Greek problem.
He added that as the largest country in the Eurozone, Germany has a special responsibility to provide a solution. Mr. Regling noted that the Eurozone Finance Ministers would met once against at the end of next week, in an effort to come to an agreement with the Greek government.
When asked about the recession in the Greek economy, Mr. Regling argued that the bailout programs were not to blame, explaining that the adjustment in Greece was inevitable.
According to the ESM chief the major deficits from 10-20 years prior to the crisis, along with a sharp rise of the cost of production and lack in competition resulted in the present situation.
