Solution for Greece reforms not debt haircut, says ESM head

Executive Director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling stresses there is no reason for concern over the Greek debt in an opinion article published in the Financial Times. Mr. Regling attributes the pessimistic outlook by the IMF on the progress of the Greek bailout program to the fact that the Fund has failed to factor in the benefits Greece enjoys as a member of the Eurozone and the guarantees the country has by its European partners. The head of the ESM underlines that the solution for Greece does not lie in any additional debt relief, but rather in the implementation of of reforms. He said that Greece had received the greatest debt reduction in history than any other country, adding that the debt haircut private creditors had been subjected to in 2012 combined with the aid to the Europeans guarantees that the cost of serving the debt was among the lowest in Europe and would remain such for a long time.