All eyes on Brussels Group meeting on Tues.

A closely watched session of the so-called “Brussels Group” of creditors’ representatives and the Greek government’s negotiators comes on Tuesday, with the differences between the leftist government and its partners now clear and delineated.

The Tuesday session was the subject of Monday high-level “pow-wow” chaired by PM Alexis Tsipras and his top ministers in Athens.

As previously cited, creditors want harmonized VAT rates, more measures to deal with a looming budget deficit and cuts in supplementary pensions if allocating Funds are deplete of sufficient reserves.

According to the government’s “leaks”, a deal is close over figures of 7, 14 and 22 percent, with the former trying to include as many basic goods as possible in the lowest rate. What creditors want remains to be announced, publicly, at least.

A budget gap is calculated at two billion euros by the creditors; one billion by the SYRIZA government, with the latter pointing to “technical” differences in … bookkeeping practices.

Conversely, the same sources claimed that “pressure” over further liberalization has ebbed.

In a related development, government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis on Monday told reporters that PM Alexis Tsipras never told FM Yanis Varoufakis to … tape Eurogroup sessions.
His comment came after a firestorm of controversy following Yanis’ half-hearted admission that he recorded portions of the Riga Eurogroup meeting, while adding that he only taped his comments.

Asked about the prospect of the current radical leftist government not paying a scheduled IMF instalment on June 5, as a significant portion of ruling SYRIZA’s central committee favored a day earlier (75 for, 95 against), Sakellaridis merely noted that his government is obliged to meet its obligations, domestically and with foreign creditors.

Nevertheless, he skirted the point of what the government will do if there’s no money in state coffers, simply noting that “the liquidity problem is well-known; it’s the responsibility of the government, but of lenders as well, to face.”

He said that June 5 is not a “deadline” date for a deal with creditors, again referring to the acute liquidity crunch and the need for a comprehensive deal.

In answer to press questions related to early statements by former minister Dora Bakoyannis, who warned of pending capital controls, Sakellaridis denied such a prospect. He referred to unsubstantiated, malicious and danger-mongering comments.