Economy Minister says negotiations to be concluded by start of next week

Economy Minister George Stathakis told private ANT1 TV that he was certain that Greece's negotiation with EU partners would end by the beginning of next week. He said that the reforms package that Greece is creating would be submitted and approved, leading the way for funds to be unlocked, thus ending Greece's liquidity problem.

Stathakis said that Greece's reforms do not signal a continuation of the memorandum. He pointed out that the basis of future discussion is based on the February 20 Eurogroup agreement. He said that this gives Greece a 4-month margin to work with.

He noted that the government is considering the establishment of a public entity to which all the so-called "red loans" of vulnerable households on the poverty line can be dealt with.

Regarding VAT, he said that there is a margin for small-scale changes that will make the tax more progressive but he said that these would not affect VAT island rates.