City AM: German deputy finance minister insists Greece will not receive debt haircut

26 February 2017

Germany’s deputy finance minister has reaffirmed the country’s hard line stance on refusing a debt haircut for Greece, raising the spectre of a further bailout for the embattled country.

Jens Spahn said creditors would not countenance any reduction in the amount Greece owes or the timetable of repayments, in an interview with German radio.

He said Greece’s problem “is not a matter of how much debt there is at the moment”, referring instead to structural reforms aimed at improving Greek growth.

“Growth needs reliability,” Spahn said, indicating the country will have to pay its debts, while dismissing the possibility of Greece leaving the EU.

The chances of a Greek recovery have been dented in recent weeks after a row between creditors threatened to derail the release of further bail-out money to Greece.

Without the money Greece will be forced to default on a €7bn (£5.9bn) debt repayment in July.

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