By T. Tsiros
The next Euro Working Group, set to convene on Thursday and without Thomas Wieser at its helm after six years, will again deal with the implementation of the remaining “prior actions” demanded by the Greek government in order to conclude the third review of the ongoing bailout.
Additionally, the Eurozone’s top preparatory body, will again focus on Athens’ clearance of state arrears to the private sector, a prerequisite to free up a remaining 500 million euros of a previous tranche of bailout money. The 500-million-euro sub-tranche is also aimed at clearing such arrears, along with 5.2 billon euros targeted at servicing maturing Greek debt and contributing to a looming “cash buffer” in the wake of the end of the current bailout in August 2018 – the third consecutive adjustment program since 2010.
On the government side, there is guarded optimism that all of the pending issues will have been resolved by Feb. 19, when a regularly scheduled Eurogroup meeting will be held.
Another major wager for the Tsipras coalition government is to issue a seven-year bond in the meantime. If all goes as planned, the end of February 2018 will find the Greek state flush with cash – via borrowing – exceeding four billion euros, at latest estimates.
