Greece’s lenders leave with no progress in sight

Negotiations between the Greek government and its creditors ended on Friday, after the three representatives of the ‘Quartet’ departed from Athens. The first week of talks between the two sides failed to produce any concrete results, with sources close the Greek government underlining that the lenders objected to the recent announcement by Greek PM Alexis Tsipras regarding the setting up of a special irreversible bank account for the voluntary disclosure of hidden income by taxpayers. The same source said the representative of the IMF remained in Athens to compile the Fund’s report on Greece. Government sources expressed optimism that a deal could be reached by the start of next week on the staffing of the new Privatisation Fund, estimating that the approval of the 2.8 billion Euro tranche could come as soon as the September 29 Euro-Working Group (EWG), which would result in the disbursement of the money at the October 10 Eurogroup. Progress was made on the types of incentives provided for people willing to legalise hidden income, but there was disagreement on the way the special account would operate. ‘The PM’s announcement could not be realised, but we will offer additional incentives, besides the irresistible bank account’, said a government source. According to information, most of the pending prior actions Greece has agreed to implement will be included in an omnibus bill to be introduced in Greek parliament in September.

Meanwhile. according to reports, the lenders also rejected the Greek government’s proposals for the staffing of the board of the new large Public Assets management Fund. The creditors turned down the proposals by the Greek side for former SYRIZA MP Olga Chariotu and Thessaly University professor George Stamboulis to be included on the board questing their credentials for the positions. Agreement was reached on the inclusion of Bank of Greece executive George Tavlas, who got the green light by the creditors to participate on the board.