SLOVAKIA will contribute to the second bailout package for Greece after ministers of finance of the eurozone agreed on February 21 to provide another €130 billion to the country, while private creditors simultaneously forgave Greece 53.5 percent of its debt to them, the Sme daily reported.
The specific amount of money that will be provided by Slovakia will depend on the sum lent by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If this is €23 billion, as per a proposal by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, Slovakia’s guarantees would be up to €1 billion, Sme wrote.
Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš said he considered the negotiations to have been successful, as the ministers agreed on finding ways to decrease Greece’s high debt level without increasing the final amount of financial help. According to Mikloš, the ministers passed all the requirements proposed by Slovakia, such as the participation of the private sector as well as the IMF, promises in the area of privatisation, and stricter monitoring of observation of the rules, the SITA newswire reported.
“I believe that the results of these negotiations will contribute to a calming of the situation and the protection of our common currency,” Mikloš stated, as quoted by SITA.
He said he hoped that the measures agreed would not significantly affect Slovakia as it will not have to participate in the bilateral loans and the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the country’s central bank, does not hold any Greek bonds.
Mikloš said that Slovakia was not going to pay Greece any “real money”.
“The realisation of these guarantees would come only if Greece did not fulfil its commitments to the European bailout fund,” he stated, as quoted by SITA.
