24/04/2015 11:39
The Greek program is going through difficult times while the meeting of the eurozone finance ministers is in progress.
The European officials stated upon arrival at the Eurogroup meeting, that it will be difficult to reach a deal.
The Eurogroup is taking place in Riga, Latvia.
Eurogroup chief, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in his doorstep statements, referred to a "great sense of urgency" and great determination of Greece to reach an agreement.
“I hope there is some progress to be reported and then we will see what the next weeks will bring us,” he told reporters.
“There is a great sense of urgency for all of us. Time is running out. But there is a great determination among our Greek colleagues”, he concluded.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday he does not expect decisive progress on Greece as he arrived for a crucial Eurogroup meeting in Riga.
On his part, French finance minister stressed that there is room for flexibility on the objectives of the primary surplus of Greece, provided that there is a surplus.
Small progress
Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling ruled out a Greek exit from the euro zone on Friday and said there had been little essential progress in negotiations ahead of a crucial Euro group meeting.
Asked about the danger of a possible "Grexit", Schelling told reporters: "There is no exit from the euro only from the European Union."
He added he was "somewhat irritated" by the lack of essential progress ahead of the meeting:
"I think it is urgently time for the Greek list of reforms to be put on the table," he added.
Greece has until the end of June to reach a funding deal with its international creditors, who are still waiting for the country's reform proposals that would contain details and numbers, Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said before the meeting.
"If it continues in this way, I have no, almost no expectations for today. This meeting will be about where we stand at the monent, what need's to be done. That's all," Kazimir told reporters.
“I feel a little bit tired on this issue” he said while entering the Eurogroup meeting.
“On reforms you know, we talk talk and the substance is missing. And this is a problem. This is a crucial problem. And we are waiting for the real proposals and the real figures and time is running, running. We have no time for diplomatic or political chit chat,” he said.
“We have time, two months, until the end of June. This is the final date. The end of June is the most important date”, he stressed.
Progress in technical negotiations has not been sufficient to reach any conclusions on Greece's debt talks at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Riga, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said before the meeting.
“It is very important that Greece is accelerating work on reforms list and starts working on the program,” he told reporters.
“Uncertainty is undermining the growth potential in Greece”, he stressed.
Varoufakis: Greece made concessions
Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money.
In a personal blog Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis agrees to some of the lenders' conditions.
“The current disagreements with our partners are not unbridgeable,” Varoufakis wrote in the blog.
“Our government is eager to rationalize the pension system (for example, by limiting early retirement), proceed with partial privatization of public assets, create a fully independent tax commission," Varoufakis said.
The above were some of the key demands of the international creditors in Athens to provide more liquidity. The SYRIZA government had initially objected to these conditions resulting in no progress in the negotiations and Athens now running out of liquidity.
In his blog, Varoufakis admitted the need for reforms.
“Greece’s tax system needs to be revamped, and the revenue authorities must be freed from political and corporate influence”, he said.
The European officials stated upon arrival at the Eurogroup meeting, that it will be difficult to reach a deal.
The Eurogroup is taking place in Riga, Latvia.
Eurogroup chief, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in his doorstep statements, referred to a "great sense of urgency" and great determination of Greece to reach an agreement.
“I hope there is some progress to be reported and then we will see what the next weeks will bring us,” he told reporters.
“There is a great sense of urgency for all of us. Time is running out. But there is a great determination among our Greek colleagues”, he concluded.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday he does not expect decisive progress on Greece as he arrived for a crucial Eurogroup meeting in Riga.
On his part, French finance minister stressed that there is room for flexibility on the objectives of the primary surplus of Greece, provided that there is a surplus.
Small progress
Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling ruled out a Greek exit from the euro zone on Friday and said there had been little essential progress in negotiations ahead of a crucial Euro group meeting.
Asked about the danger of a possible "Grexit", Schelling told reporters: "There is no exit from the euro only from the European Union."
He added he was "somewhat irritated" by the lack of essential progress ahead of the meeting:
"I think it is urgently time for the Greek list of reforms to be put on the table," he added.
Greece has until the end of June to reach a funding deal with its international creditors, who are still waiting for the country's reform proposals that would contain details and numbers, Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said before the meeting.
"If it continues in this way, I have no, almost no expectations for today. This meeting will be about where we stand at the monent, what need's to be done. That's all," Kazimir told reporters.
“I feel a little bit tired on this issue” he said while entering the Eurogroup meeting.
“On reforms you know, we talk talk and the substance is missing. And this is a problem. This is a crucial problem. And we are waiting for the real proposals and the real figures and time is running, running. We have no time for diplomatic or political chit chat,” he said.
“We have time, two months, until the end of June. This is the final date. The end of June is the most important date”, he stressed.
Progress in technical negotiations has not been sufficient to reach any conclusions on Greece's debt talks at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Riga, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said before the meeting.
“It is very important that Greece is accelerating work on reforms list and starts working on the program,” he told reporters.
“Uncertainty is undermining the growth potential in Greece”, he stressed.
Varoufakis: Greece made concessions
Greece offered some concessions on Friday on reforms demanded by international lenders in return for new funding before Athens runs out of money.
In a personal blog Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis agrees to some of the lenders' conditions.
“The current disagreements with our partners are not unbridgeable,” Varoufakis wrote in the blog.
“Our government is eager to rationalize the pension system (for example, by limiting early retirement), proceed with partial privatization of public assets, create a fully independent tax commission," Varoufakis said.
The above were some of the key demands of the international creditors in Athens to provide more liquidity. The SYRIZA government had initially objected to these conditions resulting in no progress in the negotiations and Athens now running out of liquidity.
In his blog, Varoufakis admitted the need for reforms.
“Greece’s tax system needs to be revamped, and the revenue authorities must be freed from political and corporate influence”, he said.
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