–Repeats story originally transmitted on Tuesday at 12:56 ET
FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Central Bank will not be part of any
debt restructuring for Greece and any additional external financing
needs will have to be met by the Eurozone’s member states, ECB Executive
Board member Joerg Asmussen told German daily Die Welt on Tuesday.
In excerpts of the interview released by the paper, Asmussen said a
restructuring of Greece’s debt at the expense of the ECB was not open to
discussion. “The ECB could not even take part in such a restructuring,
as this would be prohibited monetary state financing.”
“The possible additional external financing need [of Greece] can
only be closed by the members of the Eurozone,” he added.
Asmussen said that his “preference is for Greece to remain in the
euro, but the country must earn this the hard way. The key to this lies
in Athens.”
Asmussen also stressed that there was a difference between Greece’s
external financing needs and efforts to close the budget gap that has
been identified by the Troika of the ECB, European Commission and
International Monetary Fund.
He warned that even if Greece manages to close the budget gap,
additional financing might be needed if growth and profits from
privatization come in lower than expected. The budget gap has been
estimated by some at as much as E30 billion.
Asmussen called for “concrete, robust efforts” by Athens on both
the spending and revenue fronts in order to close the budget gap that
has emerged for the next two years.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@mni-news.com —
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