BRATISLAVA, February 9, (WEBNOVINY) – Greece needs to start fulfilling the conditions for international aid with real actions, with the parliament giving the go-ahead to consolidation and reform laws. Promises and declarations are not enough, said Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Miklos before leaving for a meeting of the Euro Group on the second package of aid for Greece. As he told the media, most euro zone countries now share the same opinion.
Miklos said that the conditions set for Greece are strict. One of those most important should be a political agreement on 15-percent pay cuts in the local private sector. The state, on one hand, cannot order private businesses to curb salaries, but according to Miklos such political consensus could provide a strong argument for the employers.
The minister said that voluntary curbing of salaries in Greek private sector is the only way to provide Greece with competitiveness without its leaving the euro zone and devaluating its new currency. “Salaries in the private sector as well as in public sector have grown in an unsustainable way since Greece‘ entry into the euro zone. If the country wants to stay in the euro zone it cannot curb real salaries with devaluation. The only way to adapt salaries to real situation and real competitiveness without devaluation is curbing salaries,” said the minister.
Greece will also have to guarantee that they would adopt additional consolidation measures to curb the public finance deficit to less than one percent GDP, continued the minister. According to him it is essential for Slovakia that the amount of public funds in the second aid package for Greece would not increase to more than the already agreed upon 130 billion euros and that the country’s consolidating and reform measures would lead to stabilizing the public debt. “That it would drop to less or only slightly above 120 percent GDP until 2020,” explained Miklos.
The minister, however, did not comment on whether it would be better for Greece to leave the euro zone. It’s all up to Greeks, “The Greek government and parliament will have to decide,” says Miklos. “On one hand the conditions of the Troika and the Eurogroup of finance ministers from the single currency zone are clear. On the other hand, it’s up to Greece whether they would be able to fulfill such conditions or whether they decide otherwise – including all the risks and consequences which can follow,” enclosed Miklos.
The meeting in Brussels on Thursday evening of euro zone finance ministers was summoned by Eurogroup President, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker. IMF’s Christine Lagarde is also to participate. However, some reports forecast the meeting to reach no conclusion.
SITA