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The Greece should not only report to the European Commission of the implementation of the reforms already announced to reduce its deficit. It will also explain the financial instruments which it would have been used to conceal the extent of its debt. The statistics agency Eurostat European, which the Commission proposed yesterday to strengthen the powers of audit by a series of measures providing for including more frequent visits and more complete procedures for excessive deficit, has summoned the Greek authorities to provide clarification within 15 days.

Christoforos Sardelis, who headed the Agency of management of the Greek public debt from 1999 to 2004, the Greece would have used on the advice of Goldman Sachs ("Les Echos" from February 15) of the foreign exchange swap contracts to artificially shift several years payment of the interest on its debt. It would have had recourse to such contracts for $ 10 billion of public debt issued in dollars and Yen, converted to euros by using a historical exchange rates, which would have allowed to reduce the amount and to identify in passing flexibility $ 1 billion. This practice "have apparently taken place since 2001", said yesterday the spokesman of the Commissioner for economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, recalling that the use of swaps was legitimate, provided that rely on the market rates.

Additional measures

"The instruments that the Greece has used were at this time allowed, explained yesterday in Brussels the Greek Minister of finance, Georges Papaconstantinou." The Greece was not the only country to be used. This type of contracts is more legal today, and therefore the Greece use more.

Until Athens provides clarification on these tours of accounting sleight, Ministers of the euro area were yesterday evening in Brussels. To talk about additional measures that the Greece is committed yesterday to take in case of need, more than to discuss the details of their plan possible for support. "It is very clear that the Greek Government must do in 2010 to reduce the deficit of 12.75 to 9." "But it has yet to say how the reduce 6 end of 2011 and 3 end 2012", indicated a diplomat last weekend. These measures should not be announced until the Commission assess, in mid-March, the implementation of the reforms already undertaken with the objective of reducing the deficit for 2010. "It will then look at the implementation of the budget in January and February, and we will see if new measures are needed," noted yesterday Georges Papaconstantinou. But, for Europeans, ask to relax the pressure on Athens to here there.

According to expertise made public yesterday of the legal service of the Bundestag, the Greece could play section 122 of the Treaty on the functioning of the Union European, that "where a Member State is in trouble or a threat of serious difficulties, due to natural disasters or exceptional events beyond his control, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may grant".", under certain conditions, financial assistance of the Union to the Member State concerned."

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