Greece Can Do Without Third Aid Package – Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis

ATHENS (Sputnik) – There is no danger of a default happening in Greece in the near future so it does not need a third aid package, the country’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said.

Varoufakis stressed that Greece wants to put an end to its dependence on international creditors and is working on stabilizing its economy.

“There are no preparations for a third credit package and the country does not need it,” the finance minister said Wednesday evening, adding that Greece has a backup plan in case it does not receive the last tranche of aid from the international creditors.

Greece’s total debt currently surpasses 320 billion Euros. It has borrowed a total of 240 billion Euros ($265 billion) from the troika of international creditors, comprising the European Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under two aid packages.

Last month, Athens and Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement to extend Greece’s bailout for another four months. The new deal stipulates that Greece carry out all remaining reforms required by creditors before it can receive another aid installment from the bailout, amounting to about 7.2 billion Euros ($7.9 billion).

At the end of February, ECB President Mario Draghi said in a letter to the Eurogroup that the list of reform measures submitted by the Greek authorities could become a starting point for the successful conclusion of the country’s bailout program review.

However, Draghi said that the Greek authorities failed to elaborate on concrete proposals and commitments because of the small amount of time available.

According to Varoufakis, Greece will present the Eurogroup with another reform plan next Monday and the two sides will start discussing the roadmap for a new agreement.

Following its January victory in the Greek elections, the Syriza party announced it would abandon the austerity measures imposed upon the country by the troika. Meanwhile the international creditors have maintained a hard line, refusing to budge on their original agreement and stressing that Greece must find money to meet its debts.

Possible loans from China or Russia have been suggested by some sources. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said that Moscow could explore the possibility of providing financial aid to the Greek government if Athens requests it, but no such requests have been made so far.

This article was published at Sputnik and is reprinted under Sputnik reprint policy.