- Bertrand Benoit, a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry
Leaders of Greece's governing coalition rejected German demands for additional austerity measures hours after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told legislators in Berlin that the nation was missing deficit targets.
"What has particularly bothered me is the humiliation of the country," said George Karatzaferis, a leader of one of the three parties supporting Prime Minister Lucas Papademos. "Clearly Greece can't and shouldn't do without the European Union but it could do without the German boot."
Schaeuble said that current austerity measures would leave Greece's debt as high as 136 per cent of gross domestic product by 2020, said two on condition of anonymity.
"The Greek offer is not sufficient and they have to go away to come up with a revised plan," said Bertrand Benoit, a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry.
© Dukascopy Bank