For sale? Photo credit: Yiannis Logiotatides

Two German MPs have suggested that Greece should sell some its 6,000 islands to counter its massive deficit, ahead of the Greek Prime Minister’s meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel tomorrow, media outlets are reporting today.

According to the BBC, Josef Schlarmann and Frank Schaeffler, political allies of Merkel, told a German daily that “the Greek state should sell stakes in all its assets to raise more cash.” The Daily Mail, in its typically colourful fashion, reported that the “feud between Germany and Greece ratcheted up a notch today” after MPs’ suggestion, “with thrifty Teutons calling Greeks lazy spendthrifts and the Greeks retaliating by calling them Nazis with no compassion.”

At the same time, Berlin is crucial to any EU-led bailout, boasting the largest economy of the Eurozone countries and one of the lowest budget deficits. Earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a bailout plan, headed up by a reluctant Germany, was definitely in the works and could be announced as early as Friday. However, Merkel has already said that she would offer no aid to Greece at Friday’s meeting, possibly dashing any bailout hopes – possibly a political move, especially as Greece and Germany continue to trade barbs. Moreover, Germany, like other major world economies, suffered deeply during the recession and currently has an unemployment rate at over 8 percent; a bailout of another country, especially one seen as profligate by most Germans, would not be very popular internally.