European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said an agreement at Thursday’s Eurogroup meeting to unblock negotiations for a second review of the Greek program (third bailout), and to ensure the IMF’s continued participation in the bailout, is possible.
In arriving for the session in Brussels, the Latvian Commissioner said efforts are needed by “both sides” to reach an agreement, with the agenda of Thursday’s meeting expected to examine the economic situation in Greece after 2018, when the bailout ends.
As such, he repeated other top European officials’ statements of trying to agree over measures that will ensure the continued presence of the IMF in the Greek program.
While citing concern of a fiscal gap for 2018, he nevertheless forecast that Greek fiscal targets for 2017 will be met, adding that the country exceeded goals set for 2016.
On his part, powerful German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble emphasized that it was “Greece’s responsibility” to conclude the second review.
In a subsequent Delphic comment, Schaeuble said Thursday’s Eurogroup will deal “too extensively” with the Greek issue, “as there are no news … We’ll need to wait for an agreement in order to proceed.”
Asked about the IMF “component” of the program, he merely expressed a certainty that the Fund will fulfill “all that we have agreed to”.
