Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who said all will be well with the economy beginning next year, will begin a new round of critical talks with the country’s international lenders beginning Sept. 22, meeting the top envoys from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB).
Before that he was scheduled to meet on Sept. 20 with officials from Moody’s rating agency to update them on the current state of the economy, which is still shrinking, although less than previously projected.
He is anxious to get an upgrade to make Greece look more attractive to investors, who were stiffed with 74 percent losses in 2011 as Greece wrote down its debt by refusing to pay them in full what was owed.
Stournaras will also meet the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for State Aid Gert Jan Koopman who sent an email to the Troika, which led the lenders to demand the immediate closing of the countr’s defense industries EAS, ELVO and LARKO.
Stournaras met with the Minister of Labor Yannis Vroutsis and decided that there would be three stages in negotiating with the Troika, since the progress of four prior actions is to be examined before October’s loan installment of 1 billion euros is paid out.
While Greece is hopeful, a primary surplus – not including interest, social security, the cost of state enterprises and some military expenditures – hasn’t yet been reached although Stournas said he believes it will, allowing Greece to talk about imposing losses on the Troika as well.
The Troika representatives will later return to Greece on Oct. 15 to discuss the mid-term plan, fiscal gap and updating the agreement. The third and most crucial phase of negotiations will take place in November and December and will address the funding gap and viability of the public debt.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
