The German and Greek finance ministers agreed that Athens must boost its economic growth if the debt-ravaged country wants to restore its budget balance, after talks late on Wednesday.
At a dinner in Berlin, Wolfgang Schaeuble and Evangelos Venizelos agreed that an austerity plan voted by the Greek parliament 'must immediately be put into action to return Greece rapidly to a healthy economic situation,' the German finance ministry said in a statement.
'But beyond this, other measures to sustain growth must be taken. It is only with a stronger private economy and with private investments that Greece will be able to achieve a balanced budget in the medium and long term,' it added.
This was the first meeting between the two finance ministers since Venizelos's appointment last month in a crisis reshuffle by prime minister George Papandreou.
On Saturday, eurozone finance ministers agreed to release the fifth slice of the first rescue agreed for Greece after the Greek parliament last week approved new tough budget reforms.
A total 110 billion euros ($160 billion) in loans is to be offered to Greece over three years with 80 billion euros coming from Europe including some 22 billion from top lender Germany.
Meanwhile visiting Greek foreign minister Stavros Lambrinidis said that in addition to state aid, private German companies could help Athens out of the debt quicksand faster by investing in his country.
'There are remarkable opportunities for cooperation and investments. That includes in the areas of renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and tourism,' Lambridinis told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
'We are hoping for the involvement of German companies' including in the country's privatisation drive, he said.
Several major German corporations have stakes in Greek industry such as Deutsche Telekom, which owns 40 per cent of telecommunications firm OTE, and construction group Hochtief, which holds a large stake in Athens's international airport.
Lambrinidis meanwhile joined the chorus of European criticism of credit ratings agencies after controversial decisions taken in the eurozone debt crisis.
'First the agencies downgrade us because we have not yet taken certain (austerity) measures and because our deficit is too large,' he said.
Source : New Age
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