Missing a deadline to reach a deal on unresolved reforms before the March 10 meeting of Eurozone finance chiefs, Greece is bnow hoping to make an agreement with its international lenders in April so that they will release a delayed nine billion euro ($12.5 billion) installment.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was due to be in Brussels instead of talking with envoys in Athens from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB), leaving the talking to other ministers although the negotiations have sputtered for six months.
Given the failure to come to terms since September, 2013, there is uncertainty that it could be done even by next month. That’s a critical timetable for the uneasy coalition government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ New Democracy Conservatives and its partner, the PASOK Socialists, with polls showing the major opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) leading polls for the crucial May elections in Greek municipalities and the European Parliament.
Still holding up a deal is how much more money Greek banks need on top of the 41 billion euros ($56.8 billion) they’ve already received from $325 billion in two bailouts the government has gotten from the Troika.
A stress test showed the banks need 6.4 billion euros ($8.87 billion) but the Troika has reportedly said that’s not enough, with the IMF said to be especially dubious, although government officials denied it.
But the biggest stumbling block remains 153 unfulfilled reforms identified by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in a so-called “tool kit” of measures to help boost competition such as liberalizing the sale of over-the-counter medicines and extending the shelf life of fresh milk.
Another sticking point is an agreement on the streamlining of the civil service, as well as the issue of minimum salaries in the civil service, which was recently brought to the table by the Troika which wants more pay cuts, putting it at odds with Samaras who swore he would never, ever do so again.
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