Government circles reacted curtly on Tuesday evening to a previous day’s report by Bloomberg claiming that two-thirds of prior actions demanded by Athens to conclude the now delayed second review of the Greek program have not been implemented.
In an unofficial reply, the government side claimed that “33 to 35 percent” of prior actions have been implemented, with another 40 percent “in the process of implementation” — as a circulated written response stated.
Additionally, the embattled leftist government decried what it called the wholesale republication of the dispatch without queries to relevant Greek officials over its veracity.
Nevertheless, beyond the annoyance with the Bloomberg report, the same circles confirmed that the prior actions still not implemented comprise “major obstacles”, as they deal with issues related to labor relations, fiscal matters and energy sector liberalization.
“Truly, these (issues) remain unresolved on the negotiating table… as Minister (of finance) Euclid Tsakalotos has reportedly stated ‘as in all negotiations, over the recent period, nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed’.” The latter phrase was highlighted in bold print.
In an indirect swipe at the IMF, the Greek side qualified the last statement by charging that “different players are tabling various issues, but nothing has been agreed to until we (the Greek government) see the entire package.”
Moreover, the government side directly said that an agreement on these issues will “be the product of a political decision, one that will quickly resolve all pending matters”.
