Debt restructuring for Ireland would give only temporary relief and would not help to permanently balance the budget, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has reportedly said.
Finnish media reported Mr Rehn as having said that extending loan guarantees to debt-ridden European nations is the best way to avoid a meltdown of euro zone financial stability.
Speaking at an event organised by Finnish pro-EU organisation Euroklubi, Mr Rehn said that the guarantees were the best way to avoid a financial meltdown like the crisis sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the United States.
‘If we can avoid another crisis like the Lehman situation with financial guarantees, as we have succeeded in doing so far, then the risks associated with loan and guarantee decisions have been in Finland's best interests,’ he said.
Finland's position on whether to extend guarantees to Portugal remains unclear since a party hostile to the bailout plans, the True Finns, rose to become the third largest in 17 April elections, and the government has not decided yet on whether to approve the rescue package.
Mr Rehn also said that debt restructuring for Greece, Ireland, or Portugal would only give temporary relief but would not help these countries permanently balance their budgets.
