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Greece faces more woes: Finance minister resigns

June 25, 2012 RSS Feed Print

But Germany, the largest single contributor to the bailouts, has repeatedly said Athens must stick to its pledges.

"One thing is clear," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "We cannot allow everything to be negotiated again. We can also not allow discounts to be granted. What has been decided upon stands."

Seibert also stressed that Greece must stick to its commitments.

"A program has been agreed upon, a program goes for every government, no matter if it's a new government, and the program is the best way to see Greece return to economic health," he said.

The latest figures released by the finance ministry Monday showed Greece's budget deficit for the first five months of 2012 was better than expected, coming in at €10.87 billion ($13.63 billion) instead of the target of €12.89 billion ($16.17 billion) on a modified cash basis.

Revenue, however, was below target with the state budget net revenue at €19.67 billion ($24.56 billion), short of the target of €20.6 billion ($25.73 billion). It said that was due in part to lower domestic consumer demand and lower tax revenues.

The ministry said the revenue shortfall was "more than compensated" by the budget savings for the first five months of 2012.

____

David Rising in Berlin and Toby Sterling in Brussels contributed.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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