Credits by Schäuble, but nothing of substance

Judging by the announcement of Finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, which followed the dinner in Berlin with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble, there are no essential developments regarding the new aid for Greece, since Europe seems to be quite confused, as noted by protothema.gr since this morning.

The two ministers discussed current European issues. Among the topics was the debt crisis in the Eurozone, with particular emphasis on the progress of the reform agenda in Greece. Among other things, the announcement mentions that "Schäuble praised the reform and economic efforts of the Greek government and welcomed last week’s adoption of the mid-term program and its implementation law by the parliament. The two ministers agreed that the legislated measures must be implemented immediately to accelerate the economic recovery of the country".

In other words, the only specific mention on the Greek issue relates to the need to implement painful measures included in the mid-term and the implementation law. Moreover, the two men that this is the time for a new boost to support development. Strengthening the private sector and private investment are necessary conditions to enable Greece to achieve balanced budgets in the short and long term. So there is no official progress on the aid issue, while the Eurogroup meeting is on the 11th of July…

According to the ministry’s statement however, the discussion focused on the possible involvement of German companies. Before the dinner with Schäuble, Venizelos met with representatives of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

"The representatives of German industries confirmed their readiness to support Greece’s efforts", says the Finance ministry.