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Pociatek: Slovakia Might Need to Borrow Money to Cover Greek Debt
Wednesday 28 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Prague, April 28 (TASR) - Slovakia will contribute 1.02 percent, or some €300 million, to the total financial aid package for Greece, Slovak Finance Minister Jan Pociatek told the Czech daily Lidove Noviny in an interview published on Wednesday.
When asked where the Slovak Government will get the money from, Pociatek replied that the Government has some available resources that can be used for this purpose. "And if we don't have it, we will need to borrow the money too," said Pociatek.
He understands that people don't like the prospect of paying Greece's debts, especially while Slovakia's own debt is growing. However, the public can't possibly know all the details about the issue, says Pociatek. "Before the public debate begins, formulating the specific conditions under which the credit will be provided to Greece is the most important thing to do. And that still hasn't happened to date."
When asked whether he isn't worried that the loan will be too risky, Pociatek replied that it's necessary to set a timetable of stipulations for Greece to meet. He also supports the initiative of introducing a centralised fiscal Eurozone regulatory system, which – unlike monetary policy-making – is still not in place in the EU.
"It's not acceptable to have such a huge difference between EU-member states. I, for one, believe that this initiative will translate into an overall improvement in fiscal discipline, helping us to prevent similar crises in the future," claimed Pociatek.
He added that he finds it frustrating that whilst Slovakia had to adhere to Maastricht criteria, Greece was able to mislead the eurozone officials that first kept Greece out of the eurozone but relented later on. "We need to strengthen the powers of institutions like Eurostat. It's unacceptable that this institution failed to detect the warning signs, and found itself so surprised when there was such a sea change in the figures," he said.
Nonetheless, the Slovak Government doesn't regret the decision to enter the eurozone, even though it is reeling from the crisis. "We need to reform the eurozone, to strengthen it," he added, saying that it would be profitable then for other countries to join as well, including the Czech Republic.
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