[on the positive effect of new rescue package]
• Up to now, people in Greece felt that they were making huge sacrifices, and they were, but without a light at the end of the tunnel. And people in Europe felt that they were throwing water in the barrel without seeing any results. The reason for that was not that Greece was not doing what it was supposed to do. It was, in my view at least, mostly because this debt problem was not simply a Greek one. In fact it revealed itself as a European one, and therefore it needed a European solution to be able to stabilize things. I believe that we have this stability now – the breathing space – both for Greece to implement extremely tough measures that it has agreed to and that it will, and for Europe to be able to monitor this process without a gun at their heads from the markets or from skeptical publics or from anyone else.
[on the debt crisis in 2010]
• I think that we were very close to default back in 2010, there is no question about this. We had the most explosive combination of debt and deficit of any other European country, and we also had a major credibility deficit. So […] back in 2010, with the initial loan and with the very tough measures we took then, we had to ensure that default would not happen. And we achieved that.
[on what Greece needs to do to emerge from the crisis]
• What we have to do, and what we are doing, is to create primary surpluses in the economies. So forget the debt for a second and look at the deficit; to the extent that you have deficits that debt will keep going up by definition. So what we plan to do is in the next two years turn the deficit into a surplus...
• In only one year, in 2010, We reduced the deficit by 5 percentage points; it was 15-point-something. No other European country in history has reduced the deficit that much in one year. I am saying this in order to indicate the following: I can’t do anything in this interview other than to try to stick by my records, such as they are, try to explain what it is, and try to convince people that we are not a government with no political will; we are not people incapable of shouldering the sacrifice. We have exhibited the will and the capacity to make the tough changes.
• We do not want a country that is inefficient. We want to get rid of the bureaucracy. We want to bring meritocracy in the system. We want to open up closed professions and let in fresh air, so young people can have opportunities and not depend on who they know in government. These measures have already been applied in a remarkable way.
[on more efficient taxation]
• There is a new tax law in place, and another one coming in a few months, that is now taxing property. So, in other words, you look at what each person has. Do you have a boat? Do you have a swimming pool? Do you have a big house? You don’t just look at what they declare. You look at what they actually have. And you tax them accordingly. You need to be very inventive in changing the tax system and culture in Greece, but changing the culture is the important thing. In my view, what you have now, little by little, is a small revolution there as well. And we are going to have a tax system, mind you, that will not only be much fairer, so the rich pay much more and the poor much less, but will also allow for investments to come to Greece.
[on the need for the rhetoric of punishment to stop and the need for solidarity]
• Europe realises that using Greece as a scapegoat is not the answer to the problem. We have some structural issues to deal with in Europe as well and we are dealing with them – including at the last Summit – and I think we are doing so very effectively. But yes, Greece did have an explosive combination of debt and deficit that exceeded any other country’s. In that sense, it was unique.
• What I always say is, we went through a phase where we had a punishment rhetoric. Can we now move away from the rhetoric of punishment to a rhetoric of solidarity? It would be much better for everyone, both for us receiving those loans, because you said correctly they are loans. We are repaying every euro of them and we will to the last euro.
• I feel that what is important to emphasize now in Greece and in Europe is not a blame game: whose fault it was. But instead, we need to ask: What do we need to do in order to hold hands instead of pointing figures? I make every effort back in my country, as well as in my international meetings and contacts, to communicate to people that the Greek people and even Greek parties, political parties, are in agreement on some major changes. The privatizations that are coming up – very painful but very necessary – have had the positive vote of both the PASOK government and the conservative opposition.
[on Greece’s determination to overcome the crisis]
• What I am asking for is the following: I do not want anyone to give me a blank check. Watch me closely, judge me. However, give me the chance to prove – because these changes do take some time – to prove that I can do what I say. If the moment that a decision is taken, or the moment I take a measure, I have the gloomers and doomers jumping up and predicting I will fail, the only thing that can be created is the danger of a self-fulfilling prophecy...
• I can tell you for a fact that there is greater consensus on some of these changes than a TV shot of an angry person in the middle of a protest would indicate. And I can tell you for a fact that we will not back down from our commitments. As you said, we are receiving unprecedented loans through our partners. We are grateful for those loans. We will make the changes necessary to make our economy competitive. We will defend the euro and our partners. We will defend the whole of Europe. And I hope that if we meet again in a year from now, I can look you in the eye and proudly say “Remember what we were talking about? I hope that you agree that we did OK.”
August 2, 2011