Spain wants Greece to repay €26bn debt
Spain has warned that it will ask Greece to repay a 26-billion-euro loan ($39-billion) it granted to Greece during the country’s financial crisis, as Athens starts bailout talks with its international creditors.
On Friday, Spain`s Finance Minister Lui de Guindos said the amount was lent to Greece in the form of various loans, some of which were part of a 2010 international bailout.
"There is a red line. Naturally, Spain wants to and will ensure that its loan is repaid," Guindos said at a news conference in Spain’s capital Madrid.
He went on to say that the sum is around the amount Spain spends in a year on unemployment benefits, adding that the country has an unemployment rate of 23 percent.
Unlike some European countries, Spain did not have heavy banking ties with Greece and "those 26 billion euros were in pure solidarity with Greece," said Guindos.
Bailout Talks
On Friday, Greece and its international creditors commenced technical talks based on reforms required to maintain the country’s finances, with hopes of raising the possibility of an interim compromise deal at a ministerial meeting set for Monday.
Officials from Athens started discussions with the troika, namely the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in Belgium’s capital, Brussels.
The high-profile meeting began one day after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras managed to push his case at a European summit, reaching an agreement with the troika to discuss Athens’ call for renegotiating the conditions under which the country can be bailed out.
Over the past days, Greece’s new leaders, whose leftist Syriza party stormed to victory in the January 25 elections, have toured Europe to garner support for a reconsideration of the terms of the country’s €240-billion (USD 270-billion) bailout, which it received in 2010 in return for imposing harsh austerity measures.
The measures have forced people to endure multiple tax increases, along with cuts in pensions and salaries.
SRK/AS/MHB
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