FinMin keeps cards close to chest on deal

Three days after a Eurogroup summit in Brussels that yielded a rather vague agreement between Greece and its creditors, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told Parliament that he would brief the House’s economic affairs committee on the progress of negotiations next Tuesday.

Tsakalotos, who came under fire after failing to make statements following Monday’s Eurogroup, said he would elaborate on the state of affairs next Tuesday following pressure from the political opposition for details about the initial deal Athens said it had reached with its lenders in Brussels. Representatives of Greece’s international creditors are due to return to Athens next week to resume talks which are expected to flesh out a basic commitment by Greek authorities to legislate economic reforms that would come into effect into 2019, following the expiry of the country’s third international bailout.

What remains unclear is the extent of the increases to income tax and further cuts to pensions that such legislation will entail.

Revealing no details yesterday, Tsakalotos indicated that he will be able to disclose little more during next week’s briefing to Parliament. “I won’t be able to tell you on Tuesday either exactly what the package of the agreement will include,” he said, noting that “some may win and some may lose.”