"Our membership of the euro is a guarantee of monetary stability and creates the right conditions for sustainable growth”, Papademos told lawmakers late yesterday at the start of a three-day debate on a confidence motion in his new government. "Our membership of the euro is the only choice."
The immediate priority is securing the payment of a €8 billion loan installment under a previous €110 billion European Union-led rescue, Papademos said. The tranche must be paid before the middle of December to prevent a collapse of the country’s economy. Greece plans to sell €1 billion of 13-week Treasury bills, the only financing it is getting that isn’t coming from the EU and International Monetary Fund.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble yesterday said Merkel’s government wants Greece to remain a member of the euro region. Her Christian Democratic Union party at the same time voted to allow euro states to quit the currency area. “We want Greece to stay in it, that everybody stays in it”, Schäuble said in an interview on Phoenix television. “We also want to help them to stay in it. But if a country can’t carry the burden or doesn’t want to carry the burden, and the Greek people have to carry a heavy load, then we have to respect the decision of this country.”
Papademos told lawmakers there was a clear commitment from EU partners to provide financing as long as the country proceeded with structural reforms and austerity measures. The premier is seeking a vote of confidence in his government from the parliament’s 300 lawmakers. The vote is expected to be held on November 16.
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