Greek Bailout Review Needs to be Concluded in February
ATHENS—Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Thursday the European Central Bank’s debt-purchasing program will include Greece if a continuing review of the country’s bailout program is successfully completed.
As Greece’s political parties hold their final rallies ahead of Sunday’s elections, Mr. Samaras said in a televised address that only his party, the conservative New Democracy, could guarantee Greece would benefit from the ECB’s newly launched program. He added that this could be a lost opportunity under the main opposition party Syriza, which is leading in the polls and calling for an end to the austerity measures demanded by international creditors in exchange for Greece’s €240 billion rescue agreement.
‘[Thursday’s] decision by the ECB says it clearly,” Mr. Samaras said. “Without winding up the review of our existing program by our international creditors, that must end in a month…by the end of February, we will be excluded.”
He added, “While our policy guarantees Greece’s full participation in this new era for Europe, the central position by the main opposition party keeps us with certainty out of this program. We have made many sacrifices to get here. It would be devastating if we were to lose the opportunities that are coming,” the Greek premier said.
The review of cutbacks and reforms in Greece must be completed to receive the next installment of international aid. Further aid from the bailout has been put on hold until the completion of Sunday’s elections.
The comments by Mr. Samaras came shortly after ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank will purchase the government bonds of eurozone countries, a landmark decision aimed at combating stagnation and ultralow inflation.
Greece needs to stick to the terms of its bailout, footed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to be included in the ECB’s bond-buying program.
Greeks are heading to the ballots Sunday and, according to polls, the leftist Syriza party is poised to win. The party promises a tougher line with the creditors and wants Greece’s eurozone partners to write off a substantial portion of the country’s debt.
The government that emerges from Sunday’s elections will have to finish a bailout review, which has been pending since September, and decide on a credit line to replace its existing program.
