Germany denies report on post-bailout aid for Greece

By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government on Thursday denied a Greek media report that the two countries' finance ministers had reached an agreement on further support for Greece after it exits its bailout programme. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his Greek counterpart Gikas Hardouvelis held a bilateral meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of a tax conference in Berlin, but this was "without concrete results", a spokesman for Schaeuble said in a statement. "We deny media reports that Germany and Greece agreed yesterday about future aid for Greece once its ongoing bailout programme is over," the statement added. Greece's Kathimerini newspaper had reported that Hardouvelis had secured a commitment from Schaeuble that the euro zone partners would approve an early exit from the programme with a precautionary credit line if all was in place by year-end. Greek officials have for weeks been talking with lenders about the possibility of a credit line that would be extended beyond the bail-out by euro zone partners to provide support in the case of unexpected events, according to people close to the Greek government. Athens has said that remaining funds of about 11.4 billion euros (8.98 billion pounds) in its HFSF bank rescue fund could be used as part of a precautionary credit line to be tapped if it encounters difficulties in funding itself from markets after the bailout. On Thursday, Greece's leftist anti-bailout Syriza party, which leads the conservatives in the ruling coalition in opinion polls, said it is against such a plan and that the leftover funds should be used to tackle banks' non-performing loans. "Why accept new bailout terms for money we already owe?" Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday after meeting the head of the country's central bank to be briefed on the outcome of the European Central Bank's stress test. Greece wants the credit line to come without strict conditions, saying it has shown its commitment to economic reforms. Athens would prefer that the IMF were not party to such a line, partly to avoid further conditions, the sources said. A spokesman for the IMF said Greece had made progress. "But as recent events have shown, there’s still a way to go before Greece can rely entirely on market financing," he added. The IMF views a precautionary arrangement as the best way for Greece to proceed, the spokesman said. "Of course that’s for the Greek authorities to decide, and in consultation with its partners," he added. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told reporters last week at an EU summit in Brussels his government planned a "prudent" exit from its euro zone and IMF bailouts. Samaras wants Greece to abandon an EU/IMF bailout by the end of the year, more than a year ahead of schedule. (Additional reporting by Deepa Babington and George Georgiopoulos in Athens, Anna Yukhananov in Washington,; Editing by Tom Heneghan)