IMF: Give Greece, Spain more time
But Germany said back-tracking on debt-reduction goals would only hurt confidence, a stance that suggested some disagreement between the International Monetary Fund and Europe’s largest creditor country.
“The IMF has time and again said that high public debt poses a problem,” German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. “So when there is a certain medium-term goal, it doesn’t build confidence when one starts by going in a different direction.”