FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The International Monetary Fund says Greece’s debts are too big to pay and need to be partly forgiven.
Germany says that’s out of the question.
German officials, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, say that as part of a new rescue package for Greece they will consider giving it more time to pay its debts and perhaps lower interest rates. But no outright cut on what it owes.
If pressed, Germany officials concede the IMF may be right in saying that Greece’s debt pile is too big to pay, no matter how many years it gets to pay it. Still, they exclude any write-offs.
The German position – joined by several other countries, including Finland and the Netherlands – seems to leave Greece in a tight spot: The debt might not be payable, but must not be reduced.