The Greek government must accelerate efforts to collect necessary data to demonstrate to creditors that it has significantly lowered the state’s arrears to the private sector, as well as confirming that a new e-auctions platform has been successfully implemented. As repeatedly stated by Eurozone officials over the recent period, the two issues have emerged as prerequisites for receiving one billion euros in ESM loan money held over from a previous disbursement.
As previously reported by “N”, however, the deadline for the disbursement is June 15. The latest figures announced by the Greek finance minister, nevertheless, were less than encouraging.
The Greek state’s arrears towards the private sector fell slightly in April 2018, easing to 2.617 billion euros from 2.749 billion the previous month. In an interview with “N” last week, in fact, European Stability Mechanism (ESM) chief economist Rolf Strauch said that a complete elimination of the Greek state’s arrears is one of two conditions to free up a one billion-euro sub-tranche in leftover loan money for the country. Tax rebates also picked up in April, reaching 741 million, up from 675 in March 2018.
