Greece could be given more time to pay off its debt if it keeps its budget in balance and maintains promised reforms but the debt will not be written off, French officials said on Thursday, reports Reuters.
In a series of statements spelling out Paris' position days before talks with the new government of Alexis Tsipras, senior French officials said cancelling Greece's debt was not an option because it would hit other European taxpayers hard.
"It's okay to talk about Greek debt, to lighten its burden. It is not okay to cancel Greek debt, because that would mean passing on the burden to French taxpayers," finance minister Michel Sapin told lawmakers, adding that France's exposure to Greek debt totaled 42 billion euros (31.57 billion pounds).
Sapin did not elaborate on the scope of any renegotiation. Earlier, European affairs minister Harlem Désir, a junior-ranking minister in the government, told LCI television discussions could cover the time frame of repayment.
Sapin warned, however, that any talks would depend on Greece staying on track with reforms and keeping a balanced budget. Athens targeted a general government primary budget surplus of 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2014.
Paris, which will host a visit by new Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis on Monday, has its own budgetary woes and sees itself well placed to act as a mediator between the new anti-bailout government in Athens and its European partners, including Germany.
"France wants to facilitate dialogue between Greece and the whole euro zone .. Greek chaos would be terrible for Greece and would be a bad thing for Europe, too," Sapin told lawmakers.