German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz holds a news conference on tax revenues in Berlin, Germany, October 30, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
November 23, 2019
MILAN (Reuters) – A proposed reform of the euro zone bailout fund (ESM) will not involve automatic debt restructuring for struggling countries, Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.
In an interview published on Saturday, Scholz said the ESM’s task was to support struggling countries by lending them money subject to certain conditions.
“There is not any automatic debt restructuring,” he added.
Italy’s ruling parties failed to reach an agreement on Friday over the planned ESM reform, two lawmakers said, as Rome frets about the impact the changes could have on the country’s massive public debt.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
