France is open to lightening Greek debt, not cancellation-Sapin

France is open to easing Greek debt but not cancelling it, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said in a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis on Sunday.

“Anything that can alleviate the Greek debt burden will be welcome … but of course there is no question of cancelling the Greek debt,” Sapin said.

He added that this would simply mean that instead of the Greek taxpayer it would be for the European or French taxpayer to foot the bill.

Varoufakis said that while Greece is in talks about its debt with its European partners it will not ask for more loans.

Greece’s repayment of its existing debt must be tied to its ability to restore growth, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday.

He also ruled out Greece taking on a new tranche of debt, saying the country had become addicted to indebtedness and it was time to go “cold turkey”.

“We were elected to put an end to the addiction, ” concluded the Greek finance minister.

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