With envoys from international lenders due back in Athens this week, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said he’s hoping that “common sense” will reign and that Greece’s message that it’s doing better than expected will lead for less stringent measures than are on the table now.
The Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) said the government is facing a budget hole of up to 2.5 billion euros ($3.37 billion) but Stournaras insists it’s only a fifth of that, some 500 million euros, ($674.25 million) and that it can be filled by social security cuts, breaking his promise not to impose more austerity.
“There are solutions for all the matters, as long as there is realism, flexibility and common sense on all sides,” Stournaras told Kathimerini ahead of the Troika’s return.
“We all have to be calm,” he said. “Our lenders have to pay close attention to the fact that the Greek economy is turning around, which the markets have already recognized.”
The Troika representatives, however, are unhappy that the government has failed to fulfill so-called prior actions in instigating other reforms and that privatization and the firing of public workers is lagging. At stake for now is a one billion euro ($1.34 billion) loan installment being held back but the Troika in the past has always relented in giving the monies after making threats it wouldn’t.
Greece reportedly will argue that tax revenues have beaten their targets this year, that the economy will contract by less than had been forecast and that the unified wage structure will be applied strictly across the public sector, including state companies, thereby generating at least 500 million euros in savings.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
