The negotiations between Greece and its creditors ended on Friday, with no progress having been made. Concerns about another Greek debt crisis have increased because of months of debate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Greece is at the centre of a debate between its European creditors and the IMF. They are discussing whether the debt should be decreased and the budget objectives modified. This has affected the markets and raised the question of Greece’s place in the Eurozone once again.
The head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said there had been progress with help from the Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and representatives from the EU and IMF, but didn’t give any details.
“All the parties involved understand that it is everyone’s interests to finalise everything as quickly as possible”, Mr Dijsselbloem said in a short press release. He was referring to the fact that a new instalment of the loan has been delayed several times.
The Greek government has to pay back 7 billion euros this summer, but it will not be able to honour it without new instalments of Greece’s 86 billion euro aid packet.
The IMF published an evaluation of the Greek economy on Tuesday. It has been internationally supported since 2010. It said the country’s debt was “unsustainable” and “explosive” and there are doubts about its ability to come up with a primary surplus of 3.5% of its GDP: the objective set by the European creditors.
A source close to the case said Mr Tsakalotos and Mr Dijsselbloem may meet with Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, and Benoît Coeuré, a director at the Central European Bank, to try and break the deadlock next week.
(Source: Belga)
