The disbursement of the next loan tranche to Greece is at serious risk after Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos sent a letter to creditors saying that some of the required measures are too harsh to pass in Greek Parliament.
Specifically, the 153-strong SYRIZA-ANEL coalition in the 300-seat parliament will find it very hard to pass the cut of supplementary pensions (EKAS) for 100,000 pensioners, the protection of certain non-performing loans, the privatization of power grid operator ADMIE and the freeze of police and coast guard wages. Some SYRIZA lawmakers already express their discontent with some measures already ratified.
Creditors insist that since the Greek government has agreed on the measures, they should be legislated. The disagreement could further delay the disbursement of the loan installment which Athens badly needs in order to repay International Monetary Fund loans in June, maturities to the European Central Bank and increasing state arrears. Greece is to receive 7.5 billion euros in financial aid in June and another 2.8 billion euros in September, with loan repayments due amounting to about 5 billion euros by September.
A European Commission official told Kathimerini newspaper that all bailout program requirements must be legislated before further financial aid is released.
The disbursement of the tranche has to be approved by parliaments of certain euro zone countries. The EC official stressed that euro zone parliaments will not accept changes in the package of prerequisite measures and that all measures that Athens has agreed to implement must be ratified in Greek Parliament. He also said that several creditors’ representatives found the Greek government’s move to ask for a discount in measures, “extreme”.
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