Softening, Merkel Says She Is Open to Stimulus for Greece.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said Wednesday that she was ready to discuss stimulus programs to get the Greek economy growing again and that she was committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone, signaling a softer approach toward the struggling country.
The fierce rhetorical salvos out of Germany in the past week gave way to conciliatory gestures by Ms. Merkel, who throughout the crisis has shown a propensity for managing through brinkmanship. “I have the will, the determination to keep Greece in the euro zone,” she said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an attempt to relax an increasingly tense situation.
If Greek officials are looking for “stimulus to be pursued for growth in the euro zone, which we could pursue in the interest of Greece, we’re open for this,” Ms. Merkel said. “Germany is open for this.” . . .
In recent days Ms. Merkel has signaled a growing openness to additional growth measures as long as they do not interfere with the fiscal compact to cut deficits in the euro zone in the long run. “On the one hand we have the pillar of sound fiscal policy, and the second pillar will then be the growth component,” Ms. Merkel said in the CNBC interview.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/world/europe/greek-stimulus-is-an-option-merkel-says.html?_r=1&hp
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