President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Monday expressed optimism that Greece will remain in the eurozone despite the victory of the anti-austerity and leftist party, Syriza, in Greece.
"I have strongly believed in working with the countries of the Eurogroup which are 19, and not letting go any of them. And making sure that all of us abide by the rules and the commitments that we have given to each other," he told a press conference after the meeting of Eurzone finance ministers tonight.
"That is my ambition. I do not like to speculate otherwise. Same would go for Greece. I have taken note that all the leading politicians have expressed their ambition that Greece's future is inside the Eurozone. And that I think is a very good basis to start our talks on," he added.
On his part, Klaus Regling, head of European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which is a temporary rescue fund for Eurzone members facing a crisis, said he is also looking forward to engage constructively with the new Greek government.
"The EFSF has disbursed so far 141.8 billion euro to Greece. As a result, the EFSF owns 44 percent of all Greek public debt today. We are thus by far the largest creditor of Greece. And as Greece's largest creditor, we have an obvious stake in the future of the country," he told the joint press conference.
"Since the average maturity of our loans to Greece is over 32 years, we will obviously have a very long-term relationship with the country," he added.
Source: KUNA