The most critical of all critical weeks since SYRIZA has come to power starts today and the negotiations of Athens with its creditors to come to agreement are in full swing, both at consulting and political level.
On Sunday evening Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held the teleconference call between them that was scheduled in advance. The government sources indicate that the discussion took place in a very good atmosphere and the three participants shared the view that the agreement should be reached quickly and without further delays.
However, the situation has not particularly changed for the time being. The Greek government insists that it is just a matter of time for an agreement to be signed whereas Brussels claims that "there is still a long way to go." According to the Greek media, the draft agreement entitled "Memorandum" that Athens has received has caused turmoil among the government.
The paper is based on the agreement that the Eurogroup arrived at on 20 February and in fact, it includes the requirements of creditors. According to sources from the European Union, it provides for budget cuts to the amount of 3.5 billion euro in 2015. The majority of the measures relate to different types of taxes, such as VAT and property tax as well as to changes in the labour law and pension system, including the explicit requirement of the International Monetary Fund for cutting the auxiliary pensions at least.
The Greek media report that the representatives of creditors consider the delay in the talks with Athens significant, resulting in a hole in the Greek budget, which is growing each passing day. Therefore, they are adamant with regard to the introduction of taxes and austerity measures that will produce an immediate result. At the same time, they are much more inclined to make concessions in terms of reforms.
According to the Greek Ant1 TV, the Greek government is considering the draft agreement "word for word" to ground its disagreement, although the creditors are firm that they will not accept any changes in the austerity measures. The same sources state that Brussels is expecting the reply of Athens to proceed to the compilation of the final text of the agreement and its signing.
GRReporter recalls that Greece must repay the IMF a loan amounting to 300 million euro on 5 June as well as three bond maturities totalling almost 1.2 billion euro that are due on 19 June.
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