PARIS (MNI) – Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras reiterated on
Thursday that he is not seeking new financial assistance for Greece in
talks with European leaders this week but rather an easing in the pace
of austerity to allow the economy to recover.
“We are not asking for more money,” Samaras said in an interview in
Le Monde. “A rapid recovery could even cause us to need less,” he said.
Samaras said that he plans to tell German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and French President Francois Hollande that Greece is implementing the
required reforms, finalizing the required budget cuts and developing a
privatization program that is larger than previously envisioned.
“The one thing we insist on is that an economic recovery is
necessary for us to achieve our objectives,” he said.
He said one of his main tasks is to restore Greece’s credibility
within the Eurozone.
“I want to erase the idea that Greece is here to pose problems. I
am here to resolve them. But we need some air to catch our breath,” he
said.
–Paris newsroom, +33142715540; jduffy@marketnews.com
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