–Adds Comments By Portuguese Finance Minister Gaspar
BERLIN (MNI) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on
Wednesday praised Portugal and Ireland for their efforts to counter the
debt crisis but acknowledged that confidence was still lacking in
financial markets.
Speaking at an event of the Bertelsmann Foundation here, Schaeuble
said Portugal and Ireland had made “tremendous changes” over the past
two years.
Yet, “we still lack confidence in markets,” the minister said,
noting that decision-making in the European Union is “relatively
complicated.”
“Markets will never understand European decision-making,” he
lamented.
Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, speaking at the same
event, said it reflected “tremendous progress” that yields on Portuguese
government debt had come down to levels of its Iberian neighbor, Spain.
He noted, however, that the announcement of the European Central Bank’s
new bond-buying plan, OMT, was a significant factor behind the recent
decline in Portuguese borrowing costs.
Portugal will regain market access gradually, Gaspar said. “We will
rebuild the yield curve step by step.” When the EU-IMF aid program ends
in 2014, Portugal will be able to refinance itself fully on financial
markets, he vowed.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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