We welcome Greece back into the markets: Wolfgang Schaeuble

Germany says it looks forward to seeing Greece back in the international arena, returning to markets hopefully in 2018, as expressed by the country’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

In a recent interview with Greek newspaper Ta Nea, Schaeuble expressed his pleasure in the hope of seeing Greece return to markets without any dependency on additional financial aid.

Schaeuble expects Greece to make its return in the middle of next year as also noted by the country’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The German Finance Minister estimated that the Greek debt is not a problem right now because Greece does not pay interest for long periods and has low interest rates. In the future, however, the debt may be a problem for Greece and this is when it must be discussed.

"We will try to make the return to the markets feasible and when the Greek economy is no longer dependent on economic aid, we will see whether further steps are needed," he stated.

Schaeuble said that he has sympathy for the Greek people because it bears great burdens, but the solution to the problems lies within the improvement of the conditions in the country. He also stated that it is not right to blame the others for what Greece is experiencing.

Asked whether the situation in Greece can be compared to the situation in Germany in 1953, Schaeuble said: "The situation in Greece, fortunately, is not comparable to Germany after World War II. Greece receives ESM assistance with the same terms like all the other countries. All these countries succeeded in returning to the markets after a programme. Greece is now running the third programme."