To Vima — The latest talks between the Greek government and the representatives of the institutions on the second bailout review, which concluded at 5:30am on Tuesday, did not result in an agreement between the two sides. As the representatives leave Athens, to continue talks via teleconference, a series of critical issues remain unresolved.
Greek officials commented that the two sides were closer on an agreement on the fiscal gaps for 2018 and out-of-court settlements for non-performing loans. Technical talks will continue, as well as on energy and financial issues. As for the primary surplus targets after 2019, they will be discussed at the 5 December Eurogroup in conjunction with measures to be taken for the Greek debt.
The 2017 proposed state budget to Parliament, provides for new revenue raising measures worth 2.6 billion euros. The state will also make 843 million euros of cuts on pensions and social benefits. The Finance Ministry foresees the new measures, combined with the better-than-expected performance of those imposed this year, leading to a primary surplus of 2 percent of the gross domestic product in 2017, against a bailout agreement target of 1.75 percent.
Despite the expectation that the fiscal milestone will be covered, the government has failed to persuade its creditors not to force it to implement the measures agreed, in order to ease the fiscal pressure on taxpayers, as the budget to be voted on December 10 shows.
Some progress was achieved in the joint collection of taxes and contributions, which will later be refined based on the road map that must be agreed upon between the Ministry of Labour and the General Secretariat of Public Revenue, as well as implementing the OECD’s “toolkit”.
A high-ranking Finance Ministry official estimated that the timetables have not changed and that the goal of reaching a political agreement by the Eurogroup remains. The same official noted that the government intends to reinvest a portion of the one billion euros above the surplus targets towards social benefits.
