GREECE NEEDS UP TO €120-BILLION
April 28th, 2010Via: Globe and Mail:
Greece will need financial assistance amounting to between €100-billion and €120-billion over the next three years, German parliamentarians reported on Wednesday after meeting Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.
They said that the €45-billion currently proposed as a rescue package of loans from the IMF and other members of the euro zone was only enough for the first year of support.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn refused to confirm the higher figure on Wednesday, saying that all details of the negotiations would only be announced once the entire Greek standby program had been finalized by the IMF, ECB and European Commission officials meeting the Greek government in Athens.
The details of the discussion were revealed by Jürgen Trittin, parliamentary leader of the Green party, and Thomas Opperman, chief whip of the Social Democratic party, after their three-hour meeting at the German finance ministry in Berlin.
Mr. Trittin said that two thirds of the full Greek financial requirement over three years would have to be met by the euro zone member states, with a contribution from Germany of at least €16-billion.
