The German government is mulling helping Greece by offering a fiscal cushion of billions of euros, rather than debt relief, according to a report in the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung.
The report is based on documents at the disposal of SZ. The cushion reportedly will guarantee that Athens can service its loans from eurozone countries through 2022.
The documents state that “if such a cushion is used as of 2019 to meet Greece’s economic commitment scheduled debt relief measures can be contracted,” the document states.
The documents present a calculus by which for every five billion euros that will be offered, the prospective debt relief measures – such as extensions in loan repayment periods – will be reduced by two years.
Hence, the idea would be to offer Greece enough cash to repay its loan obligations to eurozone countries and the IMF through 2022.
