Greek finance minister: ‘End the vicious cycle’
Varoufakis is a member of the Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, who was elected prime minister on Sunday. Tsipras leads the leftist Syriza party, which has formed a coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks party.
The new government has made renegotiating Greek debt to the European Central Bank a priority. It wants European leaders, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to “table [its] comprehensive proposal for ending this never-ending Greek crisis,” Varoufakis said in an interview on CNBC’s “Fast Money: Halftime Report.”
Tsipras’ party has promised to repeal austerity policy and seek to shave off some of Greece’s debt. The country has imposed stiff austerity measures in the years following a 240 billion euro ($271 billion) bailout package from the “troika” of the European Commission, ECB and IMF.
Varoufakis stressed “finding common ground for Europeans.” He argued that Greece has been put in a tough situation where it is being asked to borrow money to pay back debts for which it already borrowed.
“You know that I can’t really repay you the money I already borrowed and now you’re asking me to borrow more,” Varoufakis said.
Source: cnbc – Greek finance minister: ‘End the vicious cycle’
