Eurogroup sends troika back to Greece
No decision on further financing for Greece until the summer, says Eurogroup chief
Officials from Greece’s international lenders will return to the country later this week to examine progress made in implementing structural reforms attached to Greece’s bail-out, eurozone finance ministers decided today (17 February).
“I believe that we can, if everyone sticks to the plan, conclude the review during the month of March,” said Olli Rehn, European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs.
A positive outcome would open the way for eurozone finance ministers to release €10.1 billion in loans to the debt-stricken country.
Greece committed to implement a programme of tough austerity measures and structural reforms in exchange for two bail-outs worth a total of €240 billion.
The troika – an ad hoc group of officials from the trio of international lenders, namely the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – and Greece have been at loggerheads over the government’s budget forecasts for 2014 and for 2015. The troika has been asking the government, a fragile coalition of centre-right and centre-left parties, to cover the predicted shortfall in budget revenues by reforming rules on collective dismissal, increasing taxes on restaurants and upping the pace of privatisations.
While Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister and president of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said that the budgets were still to be discussed, Rehn was optimistic that there was a “reasonable chance” of the parties reaching a broad agreement.
In particular, Rehn recognised that “the outcome of last year may be better than expected”.
Eurostat will publish data on member states’ accounts, including budget deficits and debt, on 23 April. These figures will be a major factor in the troika’s assessment of Greece’s progress.
Nonetheless, Dijsselbloem stressed that no decision on further financing, debt relief or a possible third bail-out for Greece would be taken before the summer.
Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, has blocked a plan by Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, to bring forward such a decision to before the European Parliament elections in May in order to boost the government’s popularity in the face of growing Euroscepticism.