Greece’s Minister of Finance Euclid Tsakalotos and his economics team are in the middle of a series of meetings with European counterparts ahead of the crucial assessment of the Greek bailout program.
On Friday Tsakalotos met with Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan and on Saturday with Portuguese counterpart Mario Centeno. Reportedly, the two meetings went well for the Greek team.
After Sunday’s meeting with France’s Finance Minister Michel Sapin, Tsakalotos’ French counterpart called a press conference and made some positive assessments on Greece.
“The sooner negotiations on the Greek debt start under good conditions, the better for all of us. This is the position of France,” Sapin said.
He also pointed out that a quick settlement of the debt will be beneficial for Greece because it will gain autonomy and move towards a sustainable growth path.
Speaking of the Greek government’s desire that the International Monetary Fund withdraws from the program, Sapin said, “The IMF is here and we cannot turn it away.”
On Monday, Tsakalotos will meet with Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb and on Tuesday with the President of the ECOFIN and Eurorgroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem. His visit schedule will end on Wednesday when he is meeting with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble.
The agenda of the Greek Minister of Finance will be the same. He will explain the Greek positions on the continuing implementation of the program, the need of debt reduction and deceleration of the austerity measures.
On Thursday, January 14, Tsakalotos will present the progress of the Greek bailout program on the first Eurogroup meeting of 2016. He will also present Greece’s proposal for changes in the pension system and other reforms.
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