OECD head: Greece needs to be freed from debt

OECD head Angel Gurria wants Greece to be freed from its heavy debt pile to help its economy recover, he was quoted as saying in an interview published in the Netherlands on Thursday.

"The current state of affairs where all the Greek taxpayer's money goes to the creditors cannot continue. It can be temporary but does not offer a long-term solution," Gurria was quoted as saying in Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad.

"Greece must be enabled to have a policy that really allows work on the economy's recovery. This is also best for the creditors," Gurria was quoted as saying.

The paper said Gurria did not explicitly reject a haircut of Greek debt.

"Perhaps the banks are not yet ready and that is a good reason to take some extra time," Gurria was quoted a saying.

Gurria was not optimistic about the long term perspective for developed economies, the paper said.

"Countries such as the United States, Japan, France and Britain are not even in a crisis but do face high state debt levels. They will have to reduce them. Policy is needed for this," Gurria was quoted as saying.

"For both the United States and Japan it demands a complex balancing act to get the budget back in order as well as promote economic growth. As far as the eye reaches, the economic policy of OECD countries is branded by making state finances healthy."