Greece capable of repaying loans: Finnish central bank governor

Greece is capable of repaying all the loans it receives from its fellow eurozone countries, Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen said Tuesday.

The risks for Finland in granting extensive loans to Greece are limited, and Greece is "fairly certainly" going to repay its debts, Liikanen, who is also a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank, said in an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

The 16 member countries of the euro zone decided Saturday to activate an aid package for Greece, which provides an unprecedented 110 billion euros (146 billion U.S. dollars) to Greece over the next three years -- 80 billion euros (106 billion dollars) will be provided by eurozone nations and the rest by the International Monetary Fund.

Liikanen said the package is exceptionally well prepared, and will, in the long term, create new growth opportunities in Greece, adding that the aid is crucial for Greece to survive the debt crisis.

Finland's contribution to the package is 1.48 billion euros (1.96 billion dollars); and the Finnish government has submitted to parliament a proposal for a supplementary budget of 1.6 billion euros (2.12 billion dollars) to cover its share of the bailout.

That means Greece can get a 550-million-euro (730-million-dollar) loan from Finland this year should the proposal be approved.

Source: Xinhua