Financial Minister Magdalena Andersson hopes that this will be the light at the end of the tunnel for the Greeks.
- It's a very large undertaking, both in volume and in time, for the Euro countries as well as for Greece. I hope this will be a turning point for the Greek economy, Magdalena Andersson tells SvD Näringsliv.
Can the austerity measures be a turning point for the Greek economy?
- There are still many steps left. Decisions need to be made in numerous European countries, among them the Finnish parliament. The Euro countries will discuss a bridging loan later this afternoon. This is a first step and we'll see how it develops. The Greek banking system is still very fragile, Magdalena Andersson says.
Is it worthy for a sovereign state to be given an "overcoat" the way Greece has been?
- That's the lesson we learned in Sweden during the 90s. He who is in debt is never free. If you want to borrow money from other countries they will want to make sure that they get that money back. The tax payers in the other Euro countries are the ones who are paying.
Are the demands on Greece sensible?
- It's about the tax payers ensuring that they will get their money back at some point. These are large loans that we're talking about. If you're going to lend a lot of money you want substantial guarantees that you'll be getting it back.
What are the challenges for the Greek financial minister?
It's going to be rough for Greece from this point on. It will be rough regardless of if they pass it in parliament or not. It would have been rough anyway. These are difficult decisions to be made, they need to work more on administration and the tax code needs to be simplified. There are a lot of things they can get help with from the other countries in order to get a functioning tax agency and decision-making structure.