“The aid program is already very accommodating. I cannot see that there is still scope for further concessions,” the Associated Press quoted Schaeuble as telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday. “It doesn’t help to speculate now about more money or more time.”
Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession because of the government-introduced harsh austerity measures.
“The problem did not arise because of flaws in the (rescue) program but because it was insufficiently implemented by Greece,” Schaeuble was quoted as saying. “Greece cannot get around improving its competitiveness substantially through far-reaching reforms. In addition, Greece must achieve a sustainable level of debt by reducing its deficit.”
The austerity measures have left over a million people without jobs over the past years while Athens has continuously struggled to meet the fiscal targets in its rescue loan agreements.
The country has been the scene of numerous nationwide strikes and protests by the sacked workers, low-income workers and the students who have suffered the most as a result of the awful economic situation there.
The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France last year, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many of the world’s other more developed economies.
KA/JR
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