Dijsselbloem: Eurozone willing to provide additional aid to Greece

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed his strong opposition to a possible new haircut on the Greek debt. Speaking to five European newspapers Dijsselbloem said that "Greece will repay the loans it has received" and that the deletion of the Greek debt, whether from the private or the public sector, would be a "deceptively attractive cure" for the Greek problem.

Unlike the IMF that is pressing for an immediate decision on the viability of the Greek debt, he says there will be no new decisions on Greece before April 2014, the last year for the aid program to the country. “Eurozone is willing to provide additional aid to Greece. There is potential for new aid to Portugal, Ireland and Greece."

Regarding the chance of erasing a part of the Greek debt, Dijsselbloem said that when a country lends money to another it does so knowing it will take it back. "It may take years or even decades, but the principle will be respected. The parliament of the Netherlands, like other European parliaments, lent to Greece in order to get the money back," he said.

In the interview in five European newspapers that will be released Thursday, July 11, the Eurogroup head argues that all Eurozone countries face the same problems and for this reason they need to reform their economies, their labor market and their banking system. "Europe is aging and if it wants to maintain its social model it must regain its competitiveness. This applies to all countries, even to Germany,” Dijsselbloem said. Regarding the proposal by Paris and Berlin for a permanent Eurogroup president, Dijsselbloem says that he is opposed to this perspective.