Naftemporiki — A consensus to unlock the short-term debt relief measures for Greece decided on December 5 is likely to emerge on Wednesday, in exchange for a letter from the Greek side providing the necessary assurances.
Euro Working Group (EWG) president Thomas Wieser has reportedly requested written assurances from the Greek government that it will not replicate the “holiday bonus” allocated this month to some 1.6 million pensioners in the country — more than half of the people receiving some form of social security benefits.
Wieser reportedly made the request to Greek Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Houliarakis in Brussels.
“We are greatly anticipating tomorrow’s (Wednesday) session so we can see whether the short-term debt relief measures will gradually begin to be implemented, or whether the Schaeuble side will continue its hard line,” was the way the source in Athens commented, referring to a standing position by powerful German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble.
The Greek side is expected to send the letters to the member-states by Wednesday afternoon, so that they can then instruct the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to proceed with the implementation of the measures for the debt. The measures are to be implemented “before the end of the current ESM programme (the third programme)” in 2018. The bond swaps were not planned to start immediately anyway – certainly not before the new year – and they are likely to involve costs, which they will be “born by Greece”.
The delay in implementing the short term measures will therefore have no impact on the Greek economy or the level of sovereign debt.
Read more on the short term debt relief measures at the ESM site
