Greece must try to cut deficits and pursue economic reforms at a faster pace to persuade markets of its ability to dig out of its debt crisis, its central banker said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.
The overborrowed country avoided default after securing 110 billion euros ($147 billion) of emergency funding from its eurozone peers and the International Monetary Fund in May. Its fiscal derailment sparked a sovereign debt crisis that is still shaking the euro.
"Fiscal adjustment cannot be continued successfully if it is not coupled with a radical revamp of the state and a structural modernisation of the economy," Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos told Sunday's Kathimerini newspaper.
Also a governing council member of the European Central Bank, Provopoulos repeated his view that debt restructuring was not necessary, nor desirable and projected that by the end of 2011 Greece would be in a position to return to bond markets.
"Conditions for Greece to return to markets include the successful implementation of the (EU/IMF/ECB) fiscal programme, that is meeting fiscal and structural targets, and clear signs the economy's recovery is about to begin," he said.