A delegation of European and International Monetary Fund officials arrived in Athens Thursday to decide on Greece’s eligibility to receive the next installment of its EUR110 billion loan package.
The delegation, which includes representatives from the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank–known locally as “the troika”–will focus on Greece’s recent progress towards cutting its budget deficit as promised.
“The Troika has arrived in Athens and will stay through Feb. 11,” said a finance ministry official. “The main focus of the visit will be on our budget execution in the fourth quarter of last year and, in turn, to judge whether we are eligible to receive the fourth tranche of the loan.”
In May, Greece narrowly avoided default with the help of a bailout from the EU and IMF in exchange for measures to cut its deficit to below 3% of gross domestic product in 2014–from 15.4% in 2009–while also pushing through reforms to liberalize the economy.
According to the latest budget data from the Finance Ministry, Greece is slightly ahead of its goal to shrink the 2010 deficit to 9.4% of GDP–or about EUR21 billion.
As such, it appears likely that the EU and IMF will approve the fourth tranche of the loan, worth EUR15 billion, in late February as scheduled, the official said.
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