Time runs out as Greece and creditors meet on Wed. for a deal

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is visiting Brussels on Wednesday for a meeting with the heads of Greece’s three creditors: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi and International Monetary Fund Head Christine Lagarde. This meeting comes just a few hours prior to the Eurogroup meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

If Wednesday’s Eurogroup results in an agreement and negotiations are finalized at the leader’s summit on Thursday, then party and parliamentary procedures will begin in Athens to discuss the deal.

Despite initial optimism for an agreement, negotiations went awry after the three institutions began to disagree between themselves concerning the Greek proposal submitted on Monday aimed at yielding 8 bln euros to line state coffers. The greatest point of disagreement is the IMF’s refusal to accept tax measures on businesses, believing that this reform is recessionary.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) is being called to take more measures so that a compromise with the creditors can be reached. All three “institutions” are not willing to discuss debt settlement even though the Greek government considers this a crucial condition for an agreement being reached.

The creditors are not willing to give a nine-month extension for a solution to Greece’s funding problem. The government considers the six-month extension given to be inadequate for the stabilization of the economy.

Meanwhile, in Greece…

Tsipras briefed Panos Kammenos, leader of the right-wing anti-austerity Independent Greeks (ANEL) that is a junior coalition partners with the government. Kammenos learnt about developments in Brussels.

The prime minister reportedly had meetings on Tuesday with Labor Minister Panos Skourletis, Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis, SYRIZA Secretary Tasos Koronakis and parliamentary group secretary Christos Mandas. They discussed the government’s plan for the coming days until the deal is submitted to parliament. SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis and other deputies of the radical left were positive concerning the deal. Objections were expressed by lawmakers of the Left Platform, such as Dimitris Stratoulis, Eleni Soritou, Kostas Lapavitsas and Alexis Mitropoulos.

International Economic Relations Euclid Tsakalotos are still in Brussels.