By Harriet Torry
BERLIN--There is "no alternative" to euro-zone member states
cutting high sovereign debt and excessively large deficits,
Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Thursday, adding
that pressure must be kept up on weaker member states to improve
their competitiveness through structural reforms and lower wage
costs.
Mr. Schaeuble's comments come days ahead of a second meeting
with the Eurogroup of euro-zone finance ministers, the
International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to thrash
out a deal on Greece's bailout.
A meeting earlier this week ended without resolution.
Disagreements remain between euro-zone finance ministers, and
between the ministers and the International Monetary Fund over how
to cover Greece's financing gap and reduce its long-term debt
load.
Berlin continues to oppose a writedown of Greek sovereign debt.
Mr. Schaeuble said Thursday that if Greece were given a so-called
haircut, Germany wouldn't be able to grant it further aid as
legally it can't give guarantees to any party deemed incapable of
repaying debts.
"At a point in which we have to help Greece with guarantees
because Greece doesn't have access to financial markets, it makes
no sense to talk about a haircut," Wolfgang Schaeuble said at a
trade congress in Berlin.
"It's not the case that we're throwing money at the Greeks, we
are investing it in our better future," he added.
Mr. Schaeuble reiterated his calls to work toward a more stable
currency union and win back trust in the euro. By having the euro,
Germany is being spared "massive" currency appreciation, according
to the German finance minister, who pointed to Switzerland as a
negative comparison of an overvalued currency.
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@dowjones.com