By N. Bellos
The Greek government on Wednesday pledged to fulfill all 15 “prior actions” demanded by institutional creditors, in order to free up the disbursement of 2.8 billion euros of a bailout loan sub-tranche by the end of September.
Top Greek government officials offered their latest assurances during contacts in Brussels with Eurozone and Commission leaders.
The most significant actions that await executive and legislative action by the leftist Greek government deal with changes in the all-important privatization fund, a liberalization in the domestic energy market, creating an autonomous general secretariat for public revenues and a new framework for systemic banks’ governance.
As "N" has previously reported, the Tsipras government has only fulfilled two out of the 15 actions.
According to a top Eurozone official on Wednesday, Athens requested and was granted a couple of weeks in extra time, until the end of September, in order to fulfill its obligations. The report comes ahead of Friday’s Eurogroup meeting in Bratislava.
The same official said there was no problem with the two-week extension, as deadlines will not be missed and no liquidity issue is detected at present in the Greek economy.
Nevertheless, implementation of the 15 prior actions is deemed as a prerequisite for beginning negotiations towards achieving a second review of the Greek program (third bailout).
The unnamed source said the mood in communication between Athens and creditors’ representatives was good, although differences remained, even among creditors themselves on issues related to the Greek program.
Lastly, the official said the 2.8-billion-euro sub-tranche must be disbursed before the end of October, otherwise the money will not be available, a prospect that will necessitate yet another decision by Eurozone finance ministers and ratification by certain national legislatures.
