Greece sees progress in ongoing bailout talks
Greece’s government wound up yet another round of talks with its creditors without a breakthrough that would unfreeze bailout payments, although a Greek official said progress has been made and differences can be ironed out in the next week and a half.
Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said the main point of friction is Greece’s bid to restore collective wage bargaining. “In any case, we will try to bridge these differences in coming days,” he said. The current talks were initially scheduled for completion last year, and the delay has increased jitters over the country’s prospects amid a sharp drop in October-December output.
A deal would allow the release of loans from the country’s 86-billion euro bailout, without which Athens will be unable to handle a summer spike in scheduled debt payments.
That would leave Greece staring at a potential exit from the euro - so-called Grexit, a scenario it has repeatedly encountered since the first bailout deal in 2010. The left-led government has already agreed to extend austerity measures, expected to include further pension cuts and higher taxation, beyond the end of the current three-year bailout program in mid-2018.
Nevertheless, it insists that additional pain for austerity-weary Greeks after the bailout expires will be fully offset by benefits - provided Greece meets its ambitious budgetary targets.
Over the past ten days, Greek officials have been negotiating in Athens with the country’s European creditors and the International Monetary Fund, both on reforms that are currently required and post-bailout cutbacks. The meetings concluded Thursday, but a government official said negotiations would continue through conference calls in coming days, with a view to build on existing progress.
Athens hopes to establish the framework of a deal by a March 20 meeting of European finance ministers, Tzannakopoulos said, adding that this would form part of a later “comprehensive agreement” that would include measures to relieve Greece’s debt mountain.
“For the first time in eight years, we are close to a comprehensive solution that won’t just move the problem on, but will create the necessary conditions for our final exit from bailouts and supervision,” he said.