German FinMin Schauble repeats no debt relief for Greece

German Minister Wolfgang Schauble remained resolute in his position that there will be no restructuring for the Greek debt. The German Minister added that he wants a deal between Greece and its lenders within the upcoming week.”It is a common position of all parties involved that we should reach a deal in the next week’, said Schauble from Washington, Saturday. Commenting on the position by IMF official Poul Thomsen, Schauble said responded ’the world does revolve around Thomsen’.

Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that Greece’s lenders are examining the imposition of new austerity measures, if the country fails to deliver on its fiscal targets. WSJ claims the new measures are a ‘compromise’ between the IMF and the European institutions in an effort to bridge their diverging opinions on how to move forward with the Greek program. The report says talks between Greece and its lenders have reached an impasse threatening to derail the program and lead to the teetering economy of the country to bankruptcy.

The proposal being discussed between the IMF and its EU partners is for an additional 3bln Euro measures and has the support of Germany, adding however that pushing them would politically difficult for the Greek government. WSJ argues that the disagreements between the IMF and EU institutions have crippled the progress of the Greek program in order for the country to receive the next tranche necessary to cover its debts in the summer. Without a deal with its creditors and the subsequent release of the next aid package, Greece would be facing bankruptcy in summer.