Germany has been one of the main lenders to Greece during its nearly-decade old debt crisis.
The subject was a hotly contested one within German political circles and put party against party about whether or not Greece deserved Germany’s bailout loans.
Conservative parties warned that supporting Greece would come at the cost of the German taxpayer. Media fueled the fire with cartoons depicting lazy Greeks and articles about tax evasion.
New figures from the German government, however, show that The country has made money— and a lot of it— on the Greek financial crisis.
The German government released figures in response to a parliamentary question from the Green Party which shows that Germany has made €2.9 billion in interest payments on Greek bonds since 2010.
Since 2010 Germany has been buying Greek government bonds as part of an EU deal to prop up the struggling Greek economy. The bonds were bought by the Bundesbank and then transferred to the federal treasury.
Official figures published by the government on show that Germany made €2.5 billion in interest payments on the bonds and an additional €400 million on a loan from the KfW development bank.
The Green party have responded to the figures by calling for debt relief for Greece.
“Contrary to all the myths spread by people on the right, Germany has profited massively from the crisis in Greece,” said Green MP Sven-Christian Kindler.
“It can’t be the case that the government makes billions in profits on Greek debt which it puts into the German budget,” he added.
The Greeks have kept their side of the bargain by making painful cuts to the budget but “now it is the Euro group’s time to keep its promises,” said Kindler.
Germany has been the most resistant country to any form of debt relief for Greece and has demanded that Athens be closely tracked on reform implementation after the bailout plan ends this summer.
Fighting the German hardliners, who also include the Netherlands and other northern eurozone countries, are France and the European Central Bank, all of whom argue that reduced debt is crucial in order for Greece to gain the trust of the markets and rebuild its economy.
*****
Since you’re here… I have a small favor to ask.
More and more people than ever before are reading The Pappas Post and despite increasing costs to maintain the site and provide you with the quality content that you deserve, I will never “force” you to pay for our website or add a paywall. I believe in the democracy of the internet and want to keep this site and its enriching content free for everyone. But at the same time I’m asking those who frequent the site to chip in and help keep it both high quality— and free. We’ve implemented a “free-will” annual subscription for those who want to support our efforts. I guess it’s fair to call it a philotimo subscription… because you don’t have to do it but it’s really the right thing to do if you love the site and the content we publish. So if you like The Pappas Post and want to help, please consider becoming a “philotimo subscriber”. Click here to subscribe. If you’d rather make a one time donation, we will gladly accept any amount, with appreciation. Click here to donate any amount.
