The return of creditors’ representatives to Athens this week coincides with the latest unofficial deadline of March 20 in order to conclude a second review of the Greek program, months after the process should have been completed.
The return comes after a compromise, initially hailed as a very beneficial “agreement” by the leftist Greek government, was achieved at last week’s Eurogroup meeting between Athens and its institutional creditors.
Based on a torrent of official statements, unofficial briefings and copious press reports over recent weeks on the latest snag in a Greek bailout, several issues must now be resolved in a matter of days, including:
— the taking of”prior actions”, especially labor sector liberalization that the IMF insists on, and,
— fiscal measures for after 2019-20, another standing demand by the IMF, which will probably be achieved via a lowering of the tax-free threshold and more pension cuts for specific castes of retirees — prospects that the embattled government is loath to take. Conversely, the Tsipras government is expecting to claw back “off-set” measures to “sugarcoat” what are essentially more austerity measures.
The more-or-less hopeful mood accompanying the “Quartet’s” return to Athens was expressed by EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas on Monday, who expressed a certainty that solutions can be found in negotiations.
On his part, EU Commission Pierre Moscovici told the state-run news agency that what is necessary is a “balanced package of reforms”, while adding that the still ambitious target of a 3.5-percent primary budget surplus for 2018 should be accompanied by support measures for the Greek economy on a long-term basis.
