The Greek side is aiming for an institutions-level agreement on the second review by November 28, when the EuroWorking Group will meet to prepare for the Eurogroup on December 5, a Greek finance ministry source told the press here on Tuesday.
Achieving this target will also mark the start of an in-depth discussion on debt relief that will help create a “clear exit corridor” for Greece, the same source said. This “corridor” will include the basic steps that will lead Greece to an exit from memorandum programmes in mid-2018, the source added, specifying that this means an agreement on the debt, participation in the European Central Bank (ECB) quantitative easing programme, a successful foray into the markets and, finally, an exit from memorandum programmes.
The same source reported that the atmosphere within the Eurogroup was good, and that despite the various disagreements and differences on what is needed to make Greece’s debt sustainable all sides agreed on these steps and time frame. The source also clarified that the short-term measures due to be presented at the next Eurogroup will be “more ambitious” than had been expected.
The goal of the Greek side and many others, as indicated by the statements of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem and European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Monday, was for the upcoming discussion to go further and include primary surpluses after 2018, the source added.
Regarding medium-term measures, these will concern a combination of steady interest rates, a grace period and maturation linked to debt sustainability and primary surpluses, the source said.
(source: ana-mpa)
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