Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras doused speculation that the debt-stricken country was in dire need of a third bailout - 'we have no additional need for money'
If the eurozone is as strong as its weakest link, then it may be stronger than many think. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, the Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras doused speculation that the debt-stricken country was in dire need of a third bailout – a prospect raised by the German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble last week.
"It's very early now to talk about a [third] economic support package. For the next full year we have no additional need for money," said Stournaras referring to the country's current EU-IMF sponsored rescue programme. "All this speculation is premature. The EU [troika] money ends next July and that's when we'll have to judge the situation again. Nothing, absolutely nothing is certain yet."
Athens' aim, he insisted, was to "approach" international capital markets – from which it has been excluded since 2010 – which would preclude the need for further aid to plug a funding gap in 2014 and 2015 variously estimated at between €9.5bn (£8.12bn) and €11.1bn.
"There is a possibility that next year we will have entered the market again provided we fulfill two conditions, securing a primary surplus [before interest payments on debt] and a positive growth rate [after six years of economic contraction]," he added.
Stournaras, a macro economics professor and the government's only technocrat, not only refuses to refer to the possibility of enforced losses in the public sector – widely seen as the only way of Greece ever making its debt load sustainable – but goes out of his way to sound upbeat about the Greek economy. Athens' debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to reach 174%, or €320bn, by the end of the year according to government figures released earlier this week.
"Recent developments definitely are positive. Revenues are increasing and the recession seems to be easing," he said emphasising that most of the turnaround had been due to Greece's spectacular tourist season. "We've seen a 37% increase in net revenue from tourism compared to last year. If we're lucky and it continues over the next two months there's a good chance the growth rate will exceed projections."
The spectre of further economic assistance for Greece, no matter how small, is a frightening prospect if it comes on condition of yet more recession-inducing austerity.
Asked why Schäuble had reignited the debate of aid for Greece – a subject the German chancellor Angela Merkel has desperately tried to avoid on the campaign trail – Stournaras felt fit to say: "I don't know."
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