The Greek Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis argued that if the institutions accept the Greek reform proposal, then the “drama” would come to end, stressing that the proposal was comprehensive and that it was time that the European leaders provided a solution.
During the press conference the Greek Minister presented his three-part plan, which includes deep reforms, a rationalization of Greece’s debt repayment schedule and an investment program for kick-starting the economy. Should this plan be implemented, Greece will overcome the crisis and will not need to resort to further loans.
Mr. Varoufakis, who spoke to journalists after the fruitless Eurogroup meeting on Thursday, warned that “we are dangerously close to a mentality which accepts an accident” argued that based on the outcome of talks “serious discussions” cannot take place at the Eurogroup. He explained that the “real reason” the at the talks were suspended was because the representatives of the institutions were not authorized to further negotiate on covering the fiscal gap and debt.
According to the Greek Minister, the Eurogroup focused on the weaknesses of the Greek side and not all sides. He also commented that rather than focus on jacking up taxes and cutting expenses, the reforms should focus on increasing the efforts to collect VAT and address corruption.
Mr. Varoufakis later published the Greek government’s proposal on his blog.
