Tsipras warns uncertainty ‘not smart’

athens — Drawing out Greece’s troubled fiscal talks and creating uncertainty amid tough times for Europe is not a smart choice, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras warned on Sunday.

Greece’s EU and IMF creditors have been locked for months in a standoff over debt relief for Greece and budget targets demanded from Athens.

The IMF believes demands on Greece sought by the Europeans are too ambitious.

But if the eurozone is going to stick with its plans, then the IMF wants the necessary tax hikes and pension cuts to meet them before it will lend further to Athens.

A breakdown in talks in order to lead the country to elections would cause a de facto collapse in the [bailout] Alexis Tsipras, Greek Prime Minister

“Returning to uncertainty is not the smartest choice, especially while Europe is facing major challenges,” Tsipras told the Greek weekly Documento.

With the EU already reeling from Brexit, Tsipras argued that Greece’s current rescue programme — its third since 2010 — would collapse if his government were to fall.

His leftist-led coalition government has just 153 MPs in the 300-seat parliament, and it is unlikely that even the charismatic Tsipras could push through another package of painful austerity reforms.

“A breakdown in talks in order to lead the country to elections would cause a de facto collapse in the (bailout),” the PM claimed.

He added that creditors had “no choice” but to trust his leftist government to take the country out of an economic crisis continuing for an eighth year.

“Either this government succeeds or the rescue programmes will fail,” Tsipras said.

Athens needs the latest tranche of bailout cash to meet seven billion euros of new debt payments in July or risk defaulting on its loans. — AFP