Greek Finance Min. Tsakalotos press conference on course of negotiations with Greece’s creditors

The Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is held a press conference explaining the Greek government’s moves regarding its negotiations with the country’s creditors. Alongside the Minister were also the Minister for Economy, George Stathakis and Labour Minister George Katrougalos. Tsalalotos announced the Greek side would submit two draft legislations for income tax and social security, despite the objections raised by the lenders. On his part, Labour Minister Kartrougalos claimed that less than 10 percent of the current pensioners would be affected by the changes, admitting however, that future pensioners would be impacted negatively. Talks between the Greek delegation and the Quartet broke off in the early hours of Tuesday, after no deal was reached. They are expected to resume on April 14-16, after the summer session of the IMF in Washington, while representatives of Greece’s lenders are scheduled to return to Athens on April 18 with the goal of sealing a deal until the 22nd when the Eurogroup meeting will be held. ‘We tried hard to reach an agreement with the institutions’, said Tsakalotos, adding that Greece was a sovereign country and reserved as such the right to have the final word.