Eurogroup must prove to be Greece's partner

DEBT relief for Greece is a necessity. This should be decided not at some indefinite time in the future but within the next few weeks, presupposing that the Greek programme of economic reform and restructuring is broadly on track. This is an urgent task for Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Finance Minister and chairman of the Eurogroup of European finance ministers.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already taken the initiative, calling on Greece's European creditors to reschedule Greece's debt as a condition for the Fund joining the 86 billion euro (S$136.8 billion) bailout package decided in August. Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, has said the creditors increasingly accept the inevitability of debt restructuring, bu…