The return of creditors' representatives to Athens this week coincides with the latest unofficial deadline of March 20 in order to conclude a second review of the Greek program, months after the process should have been completed.
The return of creditors' representatives to Athens this week coincides with the latest unofficial deadline of March 20 in order to conclude a second review of the Greek program, months after the process should have been completed.
The return comes after a compromise, initially hailed as a very beneficial "agreement" by the leftist Greek government, was achieved at last week's Eurogroup meeting between Athens and its institutional creditors.
Based on a torrent of official statements, unofficial briefings and copious press reports over recent weeks on the latest snag in a Greek bailout, several issues must now be resolved in a matter of days, including:
-- the taking of"prior actions", especially labor sector liberalization that the IMF insists on, and,
-- fiscal measures for after 2019-20, another standing demand by the IMF, which will probably be achieved via a lowering of the tax-free threshold and more pension cuts for specific castes of retirees -- prospects that the embattled government is loath to take. Conversely, the Tsipras government is expecting to claw back "off-set" measures to "sugarcoat" what are essentially more austerity measures.
The more-or-less hopeful mood accompanying the "Quartet's" return to Athens was expressed by EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas on Monday, who expressed a certainty that solutions can be found in negotiations.
On his part, EU Commission Pierre Moscovici told the state-run news agency that what is necessary is a "balanced package of reforms", while adding that the still ambitious target of a 3.5-percent primary budget surplus for 2018 should be accompanied by support measures for the Greek economy on a long-term basis.