The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis argued that he does not intend to present any new reform proposals at the upcoming Eurogroup meeting scheduled in Luxembourg on Thursday, in an interview for German tabloid Bild.
Mr. Varoufakis argued that it is not appropriate to present such a list at the Eurogroup, without having discussed these proposals previously, at a lower level. Although there are major setbacks in the negotiations, Mr. Varoufakis explained that Greece is prepared for an agreement at any moment, but clarified that the institutions will have to return with a “clear and viable” proposal.
According to the Finance Minister the negotiations with the three institutions – the EU, ECB and IMF – have stalled since they cannot agree amongst themselves. He dismissed the policies presented by Greece’s partners, arguing that the recession will only get worse. After all, he noted, the policy of austerity that has been implemented for the past five years has failed.
Mr. Varoufakis questioned how the Greek economy is expected to recover and exit the crisis, when there is an insurmountable public debt, high primary surplus targets, pensions are to be slashed and the private sector will be bled dry by raising the VAT. The Finance Minister estimated that none of the creditors actually believes that Greece may manage to pay off its debts with such terms.
