U.S. President Barack Obama responded to a question about Greece on CNN stating that “when the economy is in freefall, you need a strategy of growth, not just pressuring a population that is suffering more and more.” Asked if he agreed with the remedy suggested by Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that “austerity is not effective,” Obama said that their needs to be growth for countries to repay debts and reduce deficits.

Obama pointed out that reforms are necessary for Greece in sectors such as tax collection, however said that changes are hard to acheive if people’s standard of living has dropped by 25%.

He stated that compromise is needed for Greece to remain in the eurozone. When the economic crisis had first begun, the U.S. had an active role in resolving it and knows from that participation that Germany and other countries understand that it would be better for Greece to remain in the eurozone.

He shared the U.S. experience that has shown that the best way to reduce deficits is to restore fiscal balance and growth as well as the necessary structural reforms.