German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed
Friday a call by the International Monetary Fund to give
cash-strapped Greece more time to clean up its state finances.
"We have agreed on a procedure that makes sense and to which we
will adhere to," Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular
press briefing in Berlin.
The comments from Merkel came after Germany's finance minister,
Wolfgang Schaeuble, clashed with IMF head Christine Lagarde at the
IMF annual meeting in Tokyo.
Lagarde said Athens could require two more years to get its budget
under control.
But said Seibert: "We are working on the implementation of the
present on-going program and within the timeframe, that this program
provides for."
Seibert went on to say to that Germany was waiting for the group
of experts representing Greece's international lenders to report on
Athens' progress in introducing economic reforms. "That is what in
the end counts for us," he said.
"We shouldn't speculate" about such a demand until a report by
Greece's creditors, the "troika" of the IMF, the European Commission
and the European Central Bank is released, Schaeuble said in Toyko.
The German finance minister was taking part in a podium discussion
with Lagarde.
The IMF chief warned that because of lack of growth, market
pressures and austerity measures already taken, "a little bit more
time" was necessary.
Schaeuble said that a change in the conditions of Greece's aid
payments would confuse markets and lead to a lack of trust in
politics. Greece had lost a lot of time by holding two elections and
should contribute to rebuilding trust, he added.
Lagarde caused controversy on Thursday when she said that Greece
needed two years to get its budget in order, exactly the period which
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has pleaded for recently in
European capitals.
"Greece needs more time and I have indicated to the euro partners
that an additional two years would be very helpful and reasonable for
Greece to actually meet its objectives," she told broadcaster CNN.
She also argued that "when many countries at the same time adopt
the same austerity measures it creates a bigger deeper impact on
growth."
"What we have advocated for some of those countries is, go a
little bit more slowly ... secondly don't be focused on a number, a
nominal target. Make sure you implement the measure that will take
you to the number at some stage."
