The European Union should not step in to pay further aid to Greece if the International Monetary Fund withholds its part of the next tranche of the bailout, a senior German conservative was quoted as saying.
The comments by Michael Fuchs, a deputy parliamentary leader for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, echoed Germany's view that IMF involvement is a prerequisite for EU aid to ailing euro zone states.
"If the IMF does not want to pay there must be a weighty reason. We have to analyze and at worst we have to draw the same conclusions," Fuchs was quoted as saying in a prerelease of Monday's edition of Bild newspaper.
Financial markets were spooked last week when Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the group of the euro zone finance ministers, said the IMF could withhold its contribution to a 12 billion euro aid tranche that Greece needs next month to pay its bills and service its massive debt.
The IMF has said it cannot release the money unless European partners guarantee they will meet Greece's funding needs for the next 12 months, something Germany and other north European creditors are unwilling to do.
Last week, the finance minister of the Netherlands, Jan Kees de Jager, said in an interview with Reuters that the Dutch parliament would not give its approval to EU aid without commitments from Greece enabling it to meet the IMF's targets.
Greece, whose debt burden stands at around 330 billion euros, needs to secure support from opposition parties for fiscal reforms before the EU and IMF will free up more cash to plug funding gaps in the next two years.
EU officials have asked Athens to step up privatizations urgently and suggested setting up a trustee institution to help oversee the process, similar to the body that privatized East German companies after the fall of communism.
Rainer Bruederle, the parliamentary leader of Merkel's junior coalition partner the Free Democrats, also said Greece had to do more.
"Solidarity requires that the one who receives aid meets his promises. Solidarity is not a one-way street," Bruederle was also quoted as saying by Bild.
REUTERS
