"Νew program for the PSI so that we do not turn into Albania or Moldova"

“New program and the PSI or Greece will become Albania or Moldavia”, clarified Fnance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in the plenary of the House during the debate on the bill of exchange bonds which was passed today.

In particular, the Minister explained that there are three possible paths: “One solution is the new program and the PSI, which will lead the country to another fiscal situation and will alleviate the Greeks from a debt of 110 bn. The second is coordinated default within the euro, which means tighter control. The third is default, which will mean empty shelves and the country being brought back to the 50’s. We will have another political situation if that were to happen, and Greece would turn into Albania or Moldova”. Mr. Venizelos also noted that those who seek default are doing so in order to “fulfill their political strategy. These are KKE and SYRIZA and Mr. Kouvelis’ policies”.

In addition, Mr. Venizelos stated:

About bondholders
Mr. Venizelos clarified that the “Greeks who have saved up through Greek government securities will find a way to cover them completely” and he added that “We must now say how. We are looking for a way to cover Greek investors day and night… A little patience is needed for us to complete the process and move to a different fiscal situation”, and noted that the bonds exchange which is governed by Greek law will be completed by March 12 and this of bonds governed by international law will be completed by April 6th. However, he explained that “in the small space” between the bonds exchange “everyone wants to undermine Greece in order to speculate against the Euro”.

About loans

Additionally, Mr. Venizelos stated that he is promoting an adjustment which will reduce the withholding of wages due to loans, stressing that “the deduction will drop to 3/10 of the salary and if there is more income in the family, then the installment will not exceed 4/10 of the total family income. 750000 mortgage and consumer loans have been settled and every week we keep monitoring the situation”.

About the recapitalization of banks
Furthermore, he stated that through bank recapitalization the government will take “common shares at 90% of the capital and a small percentage will be in the form of a convertible bond issue. Voting rights will not be exercised in daily administration but we will not turn banks into public utilities…”.

About the PSI
Earlier, Mr. Karatzaferis had stated that “the day of payback for the actions of political parties is not far, it is the Sunday of elections. They gave me the memorandum and wanted me to say yes or no within an hour. With this bill, our lenders are served. I repeat that Greece should have asked for a grace period of 5 years after the capitalization of the debt and that we should give back 10 bn a year”.

SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras explained that “you are not saving the country, but driving the Greek people into bankruptcy. The agreement is historic for lenders, banks and markets while for the people it is yet another step towards a holocaust”.

Finally, Mrs. Dora Bakoyannis stated that the Democratic Alliance will vote for the PSI.