Yanis Varoufakis, the SYRIZA economist tipped to be the next Finance Minister outlined to the BBC's Today program, the new government’s economic strategy.
He once again described the austerity driven approach to Greece’s debt problems as ‘fiscal waterboarding' which was doomed to failure. He also denied there had been any ‘glimmers of light’ in Greece as a result of its implementation of the Memorandum programme and that such talk was propaganda created to prop up the previous government. He argued that Europe was in denial about the Depression-like situation which exists in the country.
In response to a question about how German voters can be expected to pay more for Greece, Varoufakis maintained that SYRIZA’s plan was to minimize the losses to German and other taxpayers, pointing out that the vast majority of the 240 billion euros ‘lent’ to Greece actually went directly to the country’s creditors (i.e. largely German and French banks).
“We are going to put three or four things on the table: genuine reforms, ending tax ‘immunity’ and creating a rational plan for debt restructure. We want to bind our repayments to our growth,” he told the radio station.
In terms of policy positions of the SYRIZA government he said that it was unthinkable for any European to 'begrudge' the government an attempt to feed and house the poor hit hardest by the crisis. With regards to the party’s plan to raise the minimum wage he noted that this was in the private sector and therefore would not burden state finances and was intended to promote macro-economic stability.
“Grexit is not on the cards,’ Varoufakis also stated in response to a question about Greece’s future in the Eurozone, adding that the government would not go to Brussels with a confrontational tone. He concluded saying that there was plenty of room for mutually beneficial solutions.
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