EUROPEAN UNION EXEC NOT AWARE OF TALKS ON GREEK DEBT RESTRUCTRING

06 abril 2011

Fuente: Published by Reuters, via Google News

Brussels, April 6 (Reuters)- The European Union executive is not aware of any talks concerning Greek debt restructuring, European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said on Wednesday.

There have been press reports that some euro zone countries no longer rule out the possibility of a Greek restructuring.

"We are not aware of any such discussions," Altafaj said at a news briefing.

"The Commission has asked the Greek government to respect its obligations in terms of debt servicing, and the system should now allow the Greek economy to sort out its budget position, to reform its economy to make it more competitive, to restore market confidence to allow it come back to the market as quickly as possible with a reasonable rate of interest," he said.

"We ... exclude the scenario that you allude to, because in agreement with all euro zone members and the IMF and the ECB we have set up an action plan for dealing with (Greece)," Altafaj said.

"Quarter after quarter the Greek authorities have been evaluated in how they are implementing the programme and each evaluation has been positive," he said. "It is normal that there are some difficulties, but Greece is on the right track”.

The Financial Times Deutschland reported on Wednesday that several euro zone governments told the paper that a restructuring could now not be ruled out.

It also quoted an adviser to the leader of an EU state as saying: "We must have a plan B ready" for the possibility Greece requires more financial assistance.

Greek and European officials have long insisted that Greece can recover without restructuring and that even discussing a restructuring now would be counter-productive by damaging banks across Europe and causing panic in markets.

On Saturday, the International Monetary Fund denied a report in German magazine Der Spiegel that it was privately pressing Greece to restructure its debt.