Ewald Nowotny, who is a member of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Governing Council and head of the Austrian Central Bank, said in an interview published on Tuesday that the Europeans no longer need the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize Greece’s financial situation
“The IMF is economically speaking no longer necessary for a stabilization of Greece. This is a problem that the Europeans could solve themselves” he said to the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
Referring to the prospect of a debt relief, according to Nowotny’s estimations, “an explicit haircut is unlikely”. He also added that “Greece has already made great progress”.
In the interview, Mr. Nowotny also hinted that the ECB is leaning toward discontinuing the printing of the €500 banknote, because it is linked to criminal activity, although a decision has not yet been made.