By N. Bellos
European officials emphasized the need to immediately jump-start negotiations aimed at finally concluding the now delayed second review of the Greek program (third bailout), in the wake of Monday's IMF executive board meeting in Washington D.C., convened to focus on the Greek economy, state finances and its debt.
According to sources in Brussels on Monday evening, the "ball is now in Greece's court", with the European side expecting initiatives out of Athens, i.e. compromises vis-a-vis creditors' demands, to close the review this month.
Along these lines, a closely watched EWG meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Brussels, where whatever progress over the Greek issue will be gauged.
Deadlines are again pressing for the Greek side, given that a Eurogroup meeting is set for Feb. 20, which means that creditors' representatives need to return to Athens for negotiations ahead of the meeting in order for a draft agreement to be presented to Eurozone finance ministers. Election campaigns will begin after February in several European countries, which as expected, will downgrade the importance of the Greek issue and threaten to leave the country without a credit line leading up to the summer.
A Community source emphasized on Monday that no new initiatives should be expected from European creditors by the Tsipras government, given that their positions are well documented and have repeatedly been presented to Athens. The same source also said it was unlikely that the review process will be resolved in a piecemeal manner, something that is also not in Greece's advantage.
As it emerged from ECB President Mario Draghi's statements before a European Parliament committee on Monday, a continued delay in the second review means no inclusion in the central bank's QE stimulus program for Greek bonds.
Concluding the second review, however, essentially means that the embattled leftist government must enact "precautionary measures" in order to ensure that the country meets primary budget surplus targets of 3.5 percent of GDP after 2018 - something that the leftists in Athens and their small rightist-populist coalition partner have consistently said they will not legislate.
