- Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany
Angela Merkel during her first visit to Greece in five years said the country should meet austerity pledges in order to stay in the Eurozone. The Greek economy, struggling in a fifth year of recession, is going to miss debt reduction target, as the IMF expects nation's public debt to rise to 171 per cent of GDP this year and 182 per cent in the next year.
"I want Greece to remain in the euro. A lot has been done, much remains to be done," said Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. "We are dealing with problems that have arisen in part over decades, and these problems can't be solved with one bang, with one measure. It will be a longer path but I believe that we will see light at the end of the tunnel."
"The Greek economy stopped growing sometime in 2008 and by the time we start growing again we'll have lost a quarter of Greek GDP, that's massive, it is huge," said George Papaconstantinou, former finance minister of Greece from October 2009 to June 2011.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased 0.45 per cent to 270.20. Germany's DAX Index inched lower 0.78 per cent to 7,234.53 and France's CAC 40 Index lost 0.70 per cent to 3,382.78.
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