Greece got more time for reforms
Greece got more time for reforms from the Eurogroup. The agreed reforms in February, which should be fulfilled until the end of April, cannot be completed on time and the creditors consider to give the Mediterranean country more time. Another fact is also important, that the four-month extension of the program for the Greek aid […]
Greece got more time for reforms from the Eurogroup. The agreed reforms in February, which should be fulfilled until the end of April, cannot be completed on time and the creditors consider to give the Mediterranean country more time. Another fact is also important, that the four-month extension of the program for the Greek aid ends in June 30. Without agreement on the list of reforms the Eurogroup can not unblock around 7.2 billion EUR from the last payment for Greece. The reforms talking primarily to improve the fight against tax evasion and the privatization of airports and ports.
The financial state secretaries of the 19 Eurozone countries will discuss later today in a conference call again situation. Greece is also the subject of a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Friday in Riga – special agreements, however there are not expected. The president of the Eurogroup Jeroen Diselblum however sees progress in the negotiations on the reform package. An agreement with partners in the Eurozone is still possible to conclude by the end of April. Diselblum warned that talks are too long. The situation is difficult for the Greeks, said the head of the Eurozone finance ministers.
After earlier last week the rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded more Greece’s credit rating to class “CCC”, Athens probably will not be able to service their loans, if no agreement is reached by mid-May. The representatives of Eurozone continue to express concern that Athens seeks political agreement at ministerial level without having to engage more seriously with the conclusions of observers credit from the IMF, ECB and European Commission. Agreement between the Greek government and international lenders must first achieve a level employees before finance ministers to approve the contract.
The debt-stricken Greece is directed after years of excessive deficit to normal levels. Athens has cut its 2014 budget deficit to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product after 12.3% of GDP previously announced by the European statistical office Eurostat in Luxembourg. European Commission initially expected an even better level of 2.5%. Currently, the country does not have to worry about consequences for the deficit, because under the current criminal proceedings Brussels Athens has until 2016 to meet the Maastricht requirements for a deficit of 3 percent.
