The president of the Bundesbank Jens Weidmann argued that the talks regarding Greek debt relief are “secondary”, while arguing that the most pressing issued at hand is the implementation of reforms in Greece.
In an interview for Die Welt on Tuesday, Mr. Weidmann explained that based on its economic performance, Greece is paying less interest than Italy or Portugal. Implementation of the bailout program, he added, would help Greece recover.
Later on Mr. Weidmann called for the European Commission to be stricter towards EU members that are not meeting their fiscal targets, in reference to Spain and Portugal.
Finally, the Bundesbank chief recognized the difficult role of the European Commission of upholding European Conventions while at the same time balancing between political interests, often at the expense of fiscal discipline.
