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Victoria Mindova

Brussels will discuss a new reduction of the Greek debt as early as April 2014 as stated by Eurogroup’s chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem who, this week, came on an official visit to Athens to examine the situation in the country. He held a series of meetings with Greek politicians, with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, members of the governing coalition and visited the Ministry of Finance. After the meetings, Dijsselbloem gave a special press conference to answer questions from journalists.

Before the Greek media, Dijsselbloem specified again the two main conditions that determine the new reduction of Greek obligations to international lenders. The first is for the country to start producing primary budget surpluses, i.e. for the revenues to exceed the costs. The second is to strictly meet the obligations under the bailout agreement, which was updated in December 2012. He said that there should be no deviations from the programme, adding that the structural reforms in Greece should continue.

Dijsselbloem stressed that there should be no deviations from the recovery programme, adding that the structural reforms in Greece should continue."I think we are now seeing the first signs of a positive change in the country's economy," said the European politician. "The measures that you are applying will open new business opportunities that will help restore jobs and improve the investment climate. I think that next year we will see the economies of both the euro zone and Greece recovering," said Dijsselbloem.

According to Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, 2013 will end with a new boom in the external debt. It is expected that it will reach almost 190% of GDP, which, according to all economic theories, is a highly unsustainable ratio. However, European bureaucrats are not planning to take measures to reduce it before spring next year. The information that could be heard informally in Greece at the end of 2012, namely that there would be a new reduction of the external obligations of the country after the parliamentary elections in Germany (November this year), was not confirmed by Deyselblum.

Another critical issue that has seized the attention of European bureaucrats is the state of the financial system and the establishment of a centralized mechanism to supervise the banks in the euro zone. According to the politician, it is expected that an agreement on the preparation of the directive for a closer integration of the banking system will be reached in June. "There are many details that need to be discussed. It is expected that an agreement between the government leaders in Europe will be reached in June. The final details will be considered in the coming weeks," said Dijsselbloem.

Unlike Spain, the money for the rescue of Greek banks was given under the financial support programme. The sum of 50 billion euro for their recapitalization has been added to the obligations of the external debt. Greece is currently lobbying for the 50 billion euro to be transferred from the external debt to the new bank stability mechanism which will be under the control of the European Central Bank. "We need strong banks," the politician said, stressing that the recapitalization of the Greek financial stability is crucial for the recovery of the local economy.

Dijsselbloem did not give a clear answer as to whether the amount of bank recapitalization would be excluded from the obligations of the external debt but said that this possibility would be discussed in Brussels in June. "A debt reduction of 50 billion euro is not enough," a Greek financial analyst told GRReporter after the press conference of Dijsselbloem. Experts emphasize that a second massive restructuring is required in order for the Greek debt to reach sustainable levels.

"The members of the Eurogroup very much appreciate the difficulties experienced by the Greek people and economy during the crisis, which has lasted for several years already," he said and expressed his full confidence that economic growth will return next year.