Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou said on Wednesday that the Greek debt is totally sustainable, but this depends on the medium-term package and the privatization program.
Giogos Papakonstantinou denounced once again the restructuring scenarios - even extension - of the debt."The government does not intend to get to the interesting discussion of the restructuring, which poses enormous risks for the Greek economy, banks, households, and businesses, he said in a meeting with reporters.
Furthermore, he stated that Greece is not obligated to raise €50b through privatizations and development of real estate by 2015. Greek government is required to raise €15b by 2013, when Memorandum of Understanding concludes.
“The target of €50b is not binding and Greece won’t be reviewed for the success of this objective”, Giorgos Papakonstantinou said, adding that the aim is to implement all the necessary institutional changes for the development of real estate assets, which will be the basis of this amount.
The minister spoke of two alternative plans for the country in 2012: to borrow at lower interest rates in the market or use the mechanism of EFSF.
“We will access the markets as soon as possible, certainly no later than early 2012”, he stated.
Giorgos Papakonstantinou said that the amount of €3b in order to cover the gap in 2011 is enough, and added that any problems in budget execution in the first quarter were caused mainly by the deeper than estimated decrease of GDP in the end of 2010.
The government will announce at the end of next week a plan to fight tax evasion, according to FinMin. He also said that the revenues in the first two weeks of April are better than the first quarter.
source: capital
