Greece, creditors progress on bailout talks

Greece and its international lenders made clear progress on Friday towards bridging differences over its fiscal path in coming years, moving closer to a deal that would secure new loan disbursements and save the country from default.

Speaking in The Hague, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem dismissed any suggestion that Athens’ bailout programme was in crisis.

A review by creditors of Greece’s performance since its mid-2015 bailout has dragged on for months longer than planned, and all sides are hoping for progress before a February 20 meeting of the Eurogroup.

“The story that there’s a crisis [is] roundly exaggerated,” said Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister. “The next large payment that Greece needs to make [on its debt] isn’t until this summer. But if I can give them a push today, that would be of course be very welcome.”

He insisted, however, that “the discussions today are not about debt easing”, repeating the Dutch and German governments’ position that further debt relief for Greece will only be possible in 2018 after its current €86 billion (Dh336.2 billion) bailout programme is completed.

Greek and European bond yields have risen in the past 24 hours amid fears that a split between European governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over further debt relief for Greece will prove difficult to resolve.

The IMF is pushing for a clear plan to reduce Greece’s overall debt load, which it views as unsustainable. It wants the primary surplus, which excludes interest payments, required under the bailout deal lowered to 1.5 per cent from 3.5 per cent as a condition for its continued participation in the programme.