A spokesperson for the German Finance minister said Thursday that comments made by Wolfgang Schaeuble which appeared to suggest Greece cannot recover without leaving the euro were taken out of context.
During a political gathering in Hamburg Schaeuble on Wednesday Schauble was reported to have said that it is hard for a country to solve its economic problems without using a devaluation tool. He added that had Greece left the euro it would have felt some sharp pain but would have avoided having to implement repeated painful measures and said to nave joked [or not ] that if Greece ever gets out of this crisis and returns to growth they [the Greeks] should him build his statue.
His comments sparked an immediate reaction in Athens, where a government official labeled them “unproductive.” New Democracy spokesperson Giorgos Koumoutsakos said Greece had to avoid giving encouragement to “some in Europe who would like to bring back negative scenarios for the country.”
Former Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, currently a PASOK MP, also responded to a reference Schaeuble made to a conversation the pair had in 2011, when the German minister laid out a plan for Greece to leave the eurozone.
According to Venizelos, Schaeuble proposed converting from euros to a new currency any deposits above 3,000 euros and imposing strict capital controls. Schaeuble is also said to have proposed humanitarian aid in the form of food, fuel and medicines.
“Obviously I rejected the proposal straight away as it would have led to the reintroduction of a drachma that would be beset by repeated devaluations,” said Venizelos.
Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, a Germany Finance Ministry official insisted that Schaeuble was not advocating a Grexit now but was describing past events.
“We are currently focusing on the implementation of the existing program,” added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
