By N. Bellos
The Dec. 5 Eurogroup is shaping up as the pivotal venue for developments leading to Greek debt relief, with several European leaders commenting on the very issue this week and with European Commission Pierre Moscovici set to arrive in Athens just days before the meeting.
A growing consensus among European creditors, one that increasingly includes the assertive German side, is that the crisis-battered Greek economy will not truly recover unless there is a commitment -- this year -- for debt relief, even if primary measures are taken in 2018 and with conditions attached – full implementation of the memorandum, for instance.
A debt relief package, even with short-term measures, would also facilitate a decision by the ECB to re-include Greece in its QE program, all of which would set the stage for an attempt by Athens to emerge on international markets for its borrowing needs.
Additionally, European leaders are now more than aware that the IMF will not re-join the Greek program as a lender without measures to ensure that the country’s debt load is sustainable.
As expected, however, heading into the Eurogroup meeting German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble on Monday again expressed his stern position that debt relief talks should only begin in 2018, when the current bailout program (the third since 2010) ends.
