15/04/2015 11:32
Concerns and uncertainty about Greece is growing as the possibility of not disbursing the next tranche at the Eurogroup of April 24th is still open.
By the end of the month there should be an agreement between Greece and the institutions. Otherwise all options remain open, even the exit of the country from the eurozone, which international analysts consider very likely.
Last Thursday euro zone deputy finance ministers gave Athens a deadline of six working days to present a revised economic reform plan. Euro zone finance ministers will meet on April 24 to decide whether to unlock emergency funding to keep Greece afloat.
The Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is expected to meet this week with US President Barack Obama and President of the ECB Mario Draghi in anticipation of the decisions of the Eurogroup of 24 April.
Greece denied on Monday a report by the Financial Times that it was preparing for a debt default if it did not reach a deal with its creditors by the end of the month.
The Financial Times reported that Athens planned to withhold loan tranches totalling 2.5 bn euros to the International Monetary Fund due in May and June if it failed to reach a deal on reforms with its creditors by the end of April.
"Greece ... is not preparing for any debt default and the same goes for its lenders. Negotiations are proceeding swiftly towards a mutually beneficial solution," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' office said in a statement.
Complicated negotiations
Vice president of the European Commission, Valdis Ntomprofskis, said that the negotiations between Greece and its creditors are very complicated and did not rule out the possibility of an emergency meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers if needed.
Negotiations are speeding up, however time is running out and a lot of ground must be covered by April 20, when the two sides need to have agreed on the reforms list, he said.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told Germany’s Handelsblatt that next Friday’s Eurogroup in Riga, Latvia, will not approve aid for Greece. “There will only be a look at the progress in talks,” he said, adding that Athens should submit a list of updated reform proposals by April 20.
However, the German newspaper «Handelsblatt» citing diplomatic sources from the EU supports that the next likely date for a Eurogroup decision seems to be May 11 when the next Eurogroup is scheduled.
Talks on resolving Greece’s financial deadlock resume today amid growing creditor concern that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government won’t come up with the reforms necessary to unfreeze aid by its self-imposed deadline of April 24, Bloomberg reports.
The two sides are not moving closer to a deal while the Greek government’s refusal to proceed with any privatizations, and its pledges to reverse labor-market reform, pension reform and budget savings can’t be accepted by the country’s creditors, notes the agency quoting an international official involved with the negotiations.
The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Olivier Blanchard yesterday expressed hope that there will be an agreement with Greece, stressing that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be particularly painful for the country. A Greek exit would be no walk in the park for the eurozone, but added it would also constitute an opportunity for the bloc to proceed to a fiscal union.
Pending reforms list
The European Commission is awaiting a list of “precise reforms” by the Greek government said yesterday the economy commissioner Pierre Moskovisi, speaking at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Mr. Moskovisi stressed that discussions between the institutions and the Greek authorities are continuing in a constructive way, but slowly.
The French commissioner noted that there is an attempt to combine the positions of the Greek government with the commitments undertaken by the Greek state with creditors.
Klaus Regklingk, the Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) said the Greek government has not yet submitted a comprehensive list of economic reforms as requested by the country’s international lenders.
In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias, the EFSF Chief stated that Athens has so far implemented everything it has committed to, such as making payments towards the EFSF and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
By the end of the month there should be an agreement between Greece and the institutions. Otherwise all options remain open, even the exit of the country from the eurozone, which international analysts consider very likely.
Last Thursday euro zone deputy finance ministers gave Athens a deadline of six working days to present a revised economic reform plan. Euro zone finance ministers will meet on April 24 to decide whether to unlock emergency funding to keep Greece afloat.
The Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is expected to meet this week with US President Barack Obama and President of the ECB Mario Draghi in anticipation of the decisions of the Eurogroup of 24 April.
Greece denied on Monday a report by the Financial Times that it was preparing for a debt default if it did not reach a deal with its creditors by the end of the month.
The Financial Times reported that Athens planned to withhold loan tranches totalling 2.5 bn euros to the International Monetary Fund due in May and June if it failed to reach a deal on reforms with its creditors by the end of April.
"Greece ... is not preparing for any debt default and the same goes for its lenders. Negotiations are proceeding swiftly towards a mutually beneficial solution," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' office said in a statement.
Complicated negotiations
Vice president of the European Commission, Valdis Ntomprofskis, said that the negotiations between Greece and its creditors are very complicated and did not rule out the possibility of an emergency meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers if needed.
Negotiations are speeding up, however time is running out and a lot of ground must be covered by April 20, when the two sides need to have agreed on the reforms list, he said.
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told Germany’s Handelsblatt that next Friday’s Eurogroup in Riga, Latvia, will not approve aid for Greece. “There will only be a look at the progress in talks,” he said, adding that Athens should submit a list of updated reform proposals by April 20.
However, the German newspaper «Handelsblatt» citing diplomatic sources from the EU supports that the next likely date for a Eurogroup decision seems to be May 11 when the next Eurogroup is scheduled.
Talks on resolving Greece’s financial deadlock resume today amid growing creditor concern that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government won’t come up with the reforms necessary to unfreeze aid by its self-imposed deadline of April 24, Bloomberg reports.
The two sides are not moving closer to a deal while the Greek government’s refusal to proceed with any privatizations, and its pledges to reverse labor-market reform, pension reform and budget savings can’t be accepted by the country’s creditors, notes the agency quoting an international official involved with the negotiations.
The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Olivier Blanchard yesterday expressed hope that there will be an agreement with Greece, stressing that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be particularly painful for the country. A Greek exit would be no walk in the park for the eurozone, but added it would also constitute an opportunity for the bloc to proceed to a fiscal union.
Pending reforms list
The European Commission is awaiting a list of “precise reforms” by the Greek government said yesterday the economy commissioner Pierre Moskovisi, speaking at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Mr. Moskovisi stressed that discussions between the institutions and the Greek authorities are continuing in a constructive way, but slowly.
The French commissioner noted that there is an attempt to combine the positions of the Greek government with the commitments undertaken by the Greek state with creditors.
Klaus Regklingk, the Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) said the Greek government has not yet submitted a comprehensive list of economic reforms as requested by the country’s international lenders.
In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias, the EFSF Chief stated that Athens has so far implemented everything it has committed to, such as making payments towards the EFSF and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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