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Sir David Frost: I'm joined now by Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg and the current head of the Eurogroup. Prime minister, the president of the European commission, Mister Barroso, says that this agreement "closes the door to an uncontrolled default by Greece". Do you agree with that?
Jean-Claude Juncker: I agree basically with what the president of the commission was expressing as being the view of the commission. The decision we have made earlier this week paves the way for a restoring of the Greek competitiveness and makes sure that Greece will not run out of money. It was time for us to take the decision we have taken, because Greece was seriously facing a default in March. Now this perspective has disappeared.
Sir David Frost: With private creditors taking a haircut of 53 percent, will any private source of finance ever lend to Greece again?
Jean-Claude Juncker: I think so. First we made it clear that Greece being a unique case, private sector involvement will not be undertaken in other countries of the euro area. And as the private sector and the official sector now can envisage the Greek future and the future of the euro area with some optimism, I don't believe that a private sector representative will step away from Greece. I do think that now we have reached a situation where private creditors can assume some more risks in Greece.
Sir David Frost: And this, Prime minister, is the second bailout of Greece. How do we know there won't be a third?
Jean-Claude Juncker: You cannot really exclude that, although we should not have as a starting assumption that there will be a third program. This is the second program after the one we have concluded in previous years. If Greece is implementing all the measures we are asking Greece to implement, measures they agree upon, Greece will restore in a longer moment of time its competitiveness which has suffered a lot since Greece gained access to the euro area. The public finances will be in far better shape in some years from now. But we have to make sure, and this is a precondition for the International monetary fund, that on the medium term the Greek financial situation will be a sustainable one. We made it clear last Tuesday in Brussels that we are standing ready to support Greece even beyond the time period of this program. But I have good reasons to believe that we should now not engage ourselves in a debate on a maybe third program. We should now, as the Greeks have to do, implement the second one.
Sir David Frost: Do you think the worlds markets have responded as you would have expected or hoped?
Jean-Claude Juncker: We were not really rejoicing when we were concluding the deal. Nobody was dancing on the table. It was simply the job we had to deliver in order to restore stability in Greece and credibility around Greece. Financial markets did react in a proper way, although it was not my first concern to have the financial markets reacting in a proper and fair way. And by the way I do believe that financial markets had priced in a positive response finance ministers of the euro area would give to Greece. But things have improved and I am quite satisfied with the worldwide reactions. To this I have noted that in the US and the UK and elsewhere, there is an atmosphere of relieve since we were able to table the deal.
Sir David Frost: And what do you say to the argument that some critics have made, who think that Greece is too far gone, that default is inevitable and that it would be better to spend the money on countries that can be saved such as Ireland or Portugal?
Jean-Claude Juncker: We have a program which is developing in a satisfactory manner in Greece, in Portugal and in Ireland. I don't see any risk for Portugal and Ireland. They are performing quite well. I do think that the money we are spending, although not one single cent has gone to Greece so far, is well used money. Because we are supporting Greece in its effort to restore competitiveness, to come back to growth, although growth impulses have to be added to this consolidation program of the public finances in Greece. I don't see that Greece would go for a default. What we did and what we are trying successfully to do at the beginning of this week was to do everything in order to avoid a disorderly default in Greece. A disorderly default of Greece would have entailed tragic consequences, not only for Greece but for the whole euro area as such.
Sir David Frost: Prime minister, opinion polls in Greece show that while 70% of the Greeks would like to stay in the euro zone, only half believe the country will actually do so. Do you think they will be able to stay in, Prime minister?
Jean-Claude Juncker: You can never exclude a new crisis, although I do consider that being at the epicentre of a global threat, we are slowly regaining safe territory. But back in 2007-2008 I would never have thought, that we would have to face a crisis of the dimension of the crisis we had to fight against after the Lehmann Brothers collapse. But I don't see in the short and medium term a crisis of that dimension reappearing neither in the US nor in the euro area. I do think that by the end of the day, the euro area as such and the European Union as a whole will come out of this crisis in a better form than the form we entered it.
Sir David Frost: Prime minister, thank you very much indeed.
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