Varoufakis encouraged by ‘fruitful’ talks with ECB

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Wednesday that his meeting with European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi had been "fruitful" and gave him "a great deal of encouragement."...

"We had a very fruitful discussion and exchange," Varoufakis told reporters after emerging from his meeting at the ECB's headquarters in Frankfurt, which lasted just over an hour.

Varoufakis told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero in an interview published on Wednesday that Athens needed up to six weeks to draw up a global economic plan.

• In the run-up to the meeting, a report in the Financial Times had suggested that Draghi would take a tough line with Varoufakis and could even block a key element in Athens' plans to renegotiate its bailout.

The minister said Draghi "was particularly helpful in outlining the mechanism by which the ECB supports eurozone member states including Greece."

The visit to Frankfurt was the latest on whistle-stop European tours by Varoufakis and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to drum up support for Athens' planned renegotiation of its 240 billion euro ($270 billion) bailout.

Varoufakis has already taken his case to London and Rome, while Tsipras was scheduled to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Wednesday before heading to Paris.
  Source:AFP
[globaltimes.cn]
4/2/15
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