Euroworking Group

The completion of the program review will be based on the “political will”, said a EU source to ANA-MPA.

The new round of contacts between Greece and its lenders start tomorrow with EuroWorking Group extraordinary teleconference meeting to assess the progress of negotiation talks in an attempt to conclude the program review by mid-April.

The Euroworking Group meeting held on Monday in Brussels with the participation of the heads of the institutions did not reach any agreement on when the ‘Quartet’ will return to Athens so as to move a step closer to the conclusion of the program review.

The Euroworking Group will meet on Monday with the participation of the heads of the institutions to discuss the date of their return to Athens and the review of the economic program.

The Euroworking Group meeting held on Thursday concluded after three hours with the Finance Ministers of Eurozone not taking any decision as it was expected.

The meeting begun with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble hailing the hard work of the Greek government regarding the reforms on social security system.

The Greek government submitted the omnibus bill which will unlock the tranche of 1 million euros, following the agreement reached with Greece’s lenders on Friday.

The relevant draft bill includes the provisions on the non-performing loans and the new public sector payroll.

The new measures to be applied by the Greek Government before Christmas holidays in order to receive the sub-tranche of 1 billion euros will be determined today by Euroworking Group held in Brussels.

Deputy Minister of Finance Giorgos Chouliarakis participates in today’s meeting.

The government maintains that it has already covered 90% of the prior actions that European officials demanded, however EU creditors doubt that Greece has voted through even half of its pledges. The embattled government is continuing negotiations with creditors.

The government is under asphyxiating pressure to submit a new draft bill to Greek Parliament on Thursday if it hopes to receive the 2-billion-euro tranche benchmarked for Greece. Non-performing (so-called  “red”) loans and VAT hikes in private education are the two thorny issues that are currently on the table.

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis left Greece with an ultimatum during his two-day visit to Greece on Thursday and Friday. He made it clear that prior actions need to be completed before the recapitalisation of banks can take place.