The meeting between Troika representatives and the Greek Minister of Administrative Reform, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, scheduled for Monday afternoon, has been postponed.
According to Ministry sources, Greece’s creditors asked for the meeting to be put off, as they first want to hold a further meeting with the Minister of Finance, Yannis Stournaras, on Tuesday. It has not yet been determined when the two sides will meet again.
During their last meeting on Friday the main points of discussion were the second wave of suspensions and the list of 12,500 public sector employees from the first wave of suspensions. While the Greek government claimed that the outcome was positive, Troika expressed reservations about the extension requested.
The Ministry of Administrative Reform reported that by September it had reviewed 410,000 civil servants, when the goal was 400,000. Mitsotakis has requested an extension for the second wave of suspensions, claiming that further time is needed in order for further dismissals and suspensions to be rational.
The Troika however, is not entirely convinced by the progress, and it is expected that the creditors won’t agree easily to an extension. The Ministry claims to have found 2,730 of the 4,000 employees scheduled to be dismissed; 2,000 from ERT, 500 who resigned due to health reasons and 230 due to misconduct charges.
Further dismissals will come from defense industries, contract employees with “temporary orders” and other employees accused of misconduct. However, Troika has warned that these categories won’t count towards the 4,000 dismissals.
Regarding the overall negotiation with the government, however, administrative reform ministry officials predicted that this might drag on because troika officials are due to depart from Athens on Wednesday ahead of a Eurogroup meeting the following day and it is unknown when they will return.
Government sources also point out that the delay means that the Greek side will be forced to go ahead and table legislations for a new property tax and next year’s budget without the troika’s go-ahead, as well as a plan for restructuring the country’s state defense industries.
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