In the papers exchanged between those who observed the Greek program in 2014, there is currently a gap of 2.5 billion euros, according to the most conservative estimation. The gap touched the 4 billion mark based on other estimations, while for most observers it is no less than 3 billion euros.
Opinions are oceans apart, and the political possibilities of the Greek government due to the demands from partners and of the European Commission, was expressed by the Eurogroup on Oct 15 in Luxemburg.
The Greek Finance Minister Giannis Stournaras attempted to bypass the troika and to get into negotiations on the merits, only to receive the answer “Don’t tell these things to us, go and talk to troika.”
The partners have diagnosed that no matter the intentions, the atmosphere in Greece is not good at all, and the control of the country will have to carry on. As stated by the president of the Board of Governors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Jeroen Dijsselbloem, they estimate the control may last until January.
The partner and the Commission said, “whatever has to be done will be done,” referring to the need of additional austerity measures.
So here is where the political and communication gap starts; ECB sources advocated what Jörg Asmussen (member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB)) stated “a large budget gap” while the Greek Finance Minister was telling the press that he does not recognize a budget gap.
Stournaras had openly said : “For us, the 2014 budget does not have a gap. Everyone agrees to that and that’s what Olli Rehn said to the Eurogroup– that Greece in a very short time managed to annihilate both the primary deficit and the current account deficit”.
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