German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has spoken of five-year Greek exit from the euro zone as an option for helping the long-running debt crisis. The newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine contains leaked extracts of finance ministry paper that offers a way out (Grexit) as one of two options. The Germans reportedly view the latest proposals from Athens as failing to address “central, important reform areas to modernize the country and bring sustainable development”. The German are bitter about what they see as Greek off-hand approach to paying their debt. Another newspaper headline above reads: “(Greek Premier) Tsipras laughs and we pay, pay, pay.” The German paper see Greece, with parliamentary support, hand over assets worth €50 billion to a trustee fund which would sell them and set off the proceeds against Greek debt. The second Berlin proposal involves the EU agreeing a temporary Grexit of at least five years to allow Athens restructure its debts. The country would remain a full EU member and would be given technical and financial support for measures to boost growth and address humanitarian needs.
