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| Angela Merkel (German Chancellor) |
German
Chancellor, Angela Merkel on Sunday dismissed the idea of writing off part of
Greece's debt, but she said Berlin was open to a flexible repayment plan.
In an
interview with ARD television, she reaffirmed that "a classic haircut of
30, 40 percent of debt cannot happen in a currency union."
But Merkel
said she was open to discussing ways to lessen the burden on Athens and
defended the existing deals with lenders that come with more favorable interest
rates, time extensions and other relief.
She insisted
debt relief talks could only begin after details of Greece's latest bailout
program are finalized.
On Friday,
German MPs voted overwhelmingly to back another financial rescue package,
despite being branded senseless by many voters.
Grexit off the table
Talks are
expected to last four weeks to reach an anticipated 85 billion euro ($93
billion) deal over three years, which will include economic targets and further
public sector reforms.
Asked about Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble's
suggestion last week that Greece could take a five-year "timeout"
from eurozone, Merkel said the
idea of a "Grexit" was no longer on the table.
On Friday, she
told parliament that a temporary exit would lead to "predictable
chaos."
On Sunday,
German Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel criticized Schäuble's remarks and
defended Germany's handling of the crisis.
"In my
opinion, it was not wise to present this as a German suggestion," he said
in a television interview with public broadcaster ZDF.
But Gabriel
added that it was unrealistic for Germany to take on so much risk without
calling for Greece to implement structural changes.
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