Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos referred to another “two parts” of negotiations between Athens and institutional creditors amid a looming conclusion to the fourth review of the current bailout, namely, what he called the “post-memorandum supervision”, for which he added that the Greek side has already received the “parameters” of what it will entail after August 2018.
The other “part”, he said, was the debt relief issue, which he said is still “under discussion”.
Tsakalotos made the statements on a ruling SYRIZA party-affiliated Athens radio station.
He also reiterated that, by all accounts, negotiations for the fourth review will have concluded by a June 21 Eurogroup meeting.
Asked about the type and scope of creditors’ “supervision” after the end of the third consecutive memorandum, Tsakalotos first referred to an “intentional distortion”, saying “three or four visits by the institutions (creditors)” are planned, instead of the current regime of regular reviews by top auditors and “prior actions” that are entailed in the reviews.
“Maybe it (creditors’ supervision) will be a little more heightened … in the program you have supervision regarding targets and means: The institutions will have a say over certain major reforms – such as not allowing the loss of independence for the public revenues authority – but on how you’ll reach 3.5 percent of GDP and then 2 percent of GPD, they won’t have a big say … the targets are a given,” he said, referring to the well-known and very ambitious primary budget surplus targets that the Tsipras government has agreed to.
