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Germany praises Greek economic progress

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Germany's finance minister has praised Greek economic reforms just hours after parliament passed a bill cutting thousands of public sector jobs.

Wolfgang Schaeuble visited Athens on Thursday amid massive police security. During the visit he discouraged talk of Greece receiving a second write-off on its public debt owed to eurozone governments through bailout loans.

Deeply unpopular in Greece, Schaeuble is viewed as the enforcer of the country's harsh austerity measures. "I am very impressed by what Greece has already achieved in rebalancing and modernising the economy," Mr Schaeuble said, adding that Germany would contribute to a fund to provide liquidity to Greek businesses.

His visit followed several days of protests and a general strike over the new bill of austerity measures outlining the redeployment of up to 25,000 civil servants. The bill is tied to new bailout loans worth 6.8bn euro (£5.8bn), needed to keep the Greek government afloat.

While the German minister acknowledged that Greece had taken "big steps" to try and balance its budget, he said it was a "long and painful path" to achieve sustainable growth. "There is no convenient shortcut. We Germans know this."

He also warned Greeks to stop lobbying for some of the bailout loans Greece owes to be written off, saying it would undermine confidence in Europe's rescue programs. "We have to stick to what we've achieved. Anything else is not in the best interest of Greece. Another haircut beyond the 53% for the private sector in not doable," he said.

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Greece's coalition government led by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras agrees it has no choice but to enforce further painful adjustment. Schaeuble met with Samaras and other Greek officials on his first visit to Greece since the debt crisis exploded in 2009. During the visit, central Athens went into lockdown with protests banned and metro stations closed.

The moves followed protests of up to 5,000 outside the Greek parliament during Wednesday's vote, and a recent series of strikes against the latest cuts.

 

Anna van Densky

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