Lean Living but Not 'Ponzi Austerity', FinMin Varoufakis says

Greece's new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Wednesday appeared confident that Greece will succeed in reaching an agreement with its creditors, while addressing reporters at the ministry handover ceremony with former minister Gikas Hardouvelis.

"Europe has shown that it knows how to find solutions and avoid ultimatums," the new minister said. Varoufakis noted that, prior to the elections, he had predicted that the climate of fear would give way to reason and negotiations after the elections were over, adding that "this is happening now".

The new minister said that the ministry's leadership will have a series of meetings with Greece's EU partners in order to arrive at an agreement "bridging" the old adjustment programme and a new final agreement. He said that this would put an end to the introversion, promote reforms and put an end to the "self-reinforcing crisis".