The troika of international lenders have not yet set the date for when they will visit Athens to complete the evaluation of Greece’s bailout program.
William Murray, deputy spokesman of the International Money Fund said, “I do not have a date for mission return at this time,” during a Press conference at the IMF’s headquarters in Washington.
“We were discussing with the (Greek) authorities, what is needed from them, before a mission can return for further discussions on policies for the review,” Murray said.
The coalition government is hoping that Greece’s creditors will visit Athens to complete the review before the crucial Eurogroup on December 8. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult, as the troika expect to see reforms made before they return to Greece.
“Our focus at the moment is on the successful completion of the Sixth Review so that Greece can continue to put in place the essential conditions for sustainable growth and job creation and meet its fiscal targets under our program, which, as you probably know, is scheduled to expire in March, 2016. So the year after next,” Murray said.
According to analysts, Greece’s creditors expect Athens to take immediate measures to cover the 2.5 billion euros financial gap for 2015. They also want new measures on “red” loans and a change on value added tax. Finally, they expect reforms on insurance funds, and amendments on mass layoffs and union laws.
The IMF spokesman said that Athens has not made any proposals for the period after the bailout program. “The authorities have not made any requests, so they’ve not made a request for a precautionary (line of credit),” Murray said.
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