By V. Kostoulas
EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday appeared hesitant to discuss a possible loosening of primary budget surplus targets for Greece after 2018, when the current bailout program runs out.
“Let’s not open that issue again,” he was quoted as telling Greek reporters in Brussels this week.
The leftist Athens government has already committed to achieving an ambitious 3.5-percent primary budget surplus target, as a percentage of GDP, for 2018.
European creditors want the specific figure as high as possible, in order for surpluses to be funneled towards reducing Greece’s debts. Conversely, the IMF has repeatedly warned that such targets are unrealistic.
On his part, the French Commissioner said the 3.5-percent target is possible, as the current program is on track, and that Greece has appeared to “turn the page”.
The EU Commissioner for fiscal policy also announced that he will travel to Athens next month in order to express his support in person and to discuss the next steps in terms of implementing the third memorandum. In a bid to sway discussion from fiscal targets and austerity programs, he added that “now is the time for investments in Greece”.
Asked by “N” over his optimistic assessments of the Greek economy’s upcoming results, amid ever-increasing taxes, still imposed capital controls and only a trickle of direct investments, he first replied that reforms are making the Greek economy more competitive, whereas “confidence has now been restored”.
Finally, Moscovici estimated that the Greek economy will soon return to borrowing from the markets.
