Germany: Greece could get money early if reforms come sooner

Berlin does not see any basis for Greece to get the next tranche of its bailout immediately to prevent it from becoming insolvent but if Athens implements its reforms sooner than expected, it could get paid early, a German finance ministry spokesman said.

Asked whether the Eurogroup could discuss on Monday whether Greece could get money to prevent it becoming insolvent if it decides on certain reforms, spokesman Martin Jaeger said: "From our point of view there is no basis for that."

He said the Eurogroup decided on Feb. 20 that Greece must develop its list of reforms in detail by the end of April, agree it with the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund and implement it by the end of June.

But he added: "If the Greek program is in a position to work out its list of reforms in detail earlier than the end of April and the troika agrees to it and if this program is, accordingly, implemented earlier, it would of course possible to make a payment earlier."

He added that the time at which the next tranche of aid would be paid to Greece had not been determined but a sequence of events had been decided on and that would be stuck to.

[Reuters]