To Vima — The European Central Bank cannot yet specify a timeline to include Greece in its 80-billion-euro a month quantitative easing program, ECB President Mario Draghi said in a letter to European lawmaker published on Wednesday. The European Central Bank is expecting the sustainability of the Greek debt to be addressed before including Greece in its asset purchasing programme essentially adopting the IMF’s position on the matter.
Greece needs to pass an ECB debt sustainability analysis before it can be included but measures to cut its debt pile are still under consideration, making the analysis difficult.
“A precise timeline for the possible purchase of marketable instruments issued or guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic under the PSPP (Public Sector Purchase Programme) cannot be specified at the current juncture,” Draghi said
The Greek government is hopeful that the EU will have to ‘give something’ to the IMF to secure its continued support. The Greek government is also banking on American support, following the recent visit of Jack Lew in Athens, who expressed the USA’s intention to address the matter.
At the same time Athens is optimistic that Germany’s Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel can play an important role in opening talks on the Greek debt, as he recently stressed that the problem must be resolved as soon as possible and not be delayed due to the upcoming German elections.
Meanwhile, in the Monday meeting between Euclid Tsakalotos and Pierre Moscovici, the two sides appear to have agreed that any debt relief measures must be specified by the end of the year.
