Handelsblatt on Wednesday referred to delays in implementing already agreed-to reforms in Greece by the poll-trailing Tsipras government, as well as what it calls pressure exerted on the Greek prime minister ahead of three elections, including a general election in 2019.
Under the headline "Athenian déjà-vu", the German financial mass daily notes that "after the end of a lengthy rescue of Greece, the IMF declined to disburse even a dollar more to Athens, primarily for one reason: experts dispute the assessment of Europeans that the Greek government will remain until the end of the support program in a reform orbit, and that it will achieve large surpluses."
Handelsblatt adds that "clashes" over recent days between international creditors and Athens have confirmed that the IMF's concerns were valid.
The paper nevertheless reminds that the Greek economy is now moving in a positive pace, with GDP growth hovering at 2.2 percent annually, at twice the pace of European powerhouse Germany. At the same time, Handelsblatt writes that "this is a low-level recovery after the dramatic collapse of the (Greek) after the crises".
