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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Merkel: Greece’s Prospects Better Than Two Years Ago, Much to be Done

Her belief that the prospects of Greece are better than they were two years ago, expressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the federal parliament (Bundestag), adding though that much has to be done. The Bundestag was voting today over the two-month extension of the Greek support program and the following precautionary credit line (ECCL) that has to be approved by all European parliaments before it is finally enforced. “We can see that in countries which have particularly dealt with the crisis, competitiveness rises, budget deficits shrink and Ireland, Portugal and Spain, three of the five countries, have successfully completed their programs,” Merkel said. Regarding the Greek case, she underlined that “although much remains to be done, prospects in Greece are significantly better today than two years ago. All these could not be done without the decisive action of each country and without a determined, joint action and solidarity at a European level.” Furthermore, Merkel reiterated that the pillars of this achievement are and must remain fiscal consolidation, which at the same time should be friendly towards development, and structural reforms in order to enhance competitiveness.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com