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Troika postpones their visit to Athens again. Greeks are not ready

16 September 2011 / 20:09:10  GRReporter
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The supervisory Troika postpones the fifth review of the Greek economy development for the second time. After the early termination the representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission found that their return to Greece is still pointless. In less than two weeks, the Greek government failed to do anything more than to panic the public and throw yet another additional tax upon the head of the Greek taxpayers, which was insufficient to cover the gaps in the implementation of budgetary reforms. 

All decisions concerning the payment of the sixth tranche of aid to Greece are frozen until mid-October of this year, after the report of the supervisory Troika is presented. The decision came after the Eurozone Council meeting of finance ministers, in which for the first time present was the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner. "Now the ball is in the Greek field," said the President of Euro Group, Jean-Claude Juncker. 

He welcomed the introduction of new measures, which the Greek government announced last weekend, related to another extra property tax for all citizens. Juncker stressed that the European partners take into account Greece's efforts to achieve financial goals of the recovery program and let it be known that it is time for the Greek government to show its commitment to its partners with actions. 

"This is a great opportunity to send a clear message: we are going in the right direction, performing a recovery program. I believe that the implementation of the decisions from July 21 is the only way forward, not only for Greece but for the whole eurozone," said loudly again Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, before his visit to Brussels. 

Patience of many Europeans seems limited and this trend is reflected in the opinion of the Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter. She does not exclude the possibility of Greece going bankrupt. She said this may be preferable to the alternative of an expensive and long-term saving. "We will continue with determination on the intended path, but if it leads to a higher price than an alternative, we should look at this opportunity, said Minister of Finance of Austria regarding the bankruptcy of Greece. 

Christine Lagarde, who until recently was the finance minister of France, and after the scandal with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, she became the head of the International Monetary Fund, stressed that countries with high deficits in the eurozone must deliver on their commitments. She said that countries in the European the Monetary Union should seek to put more effort in reforming the current system, because otherwise they face sinking in a second major crisis. "Overall growth continues to decrease its pace. Advanced economies face a difficult and anemic recovery, with unacceptably high levels of unemployment. Debt crisis in the eurozone has deteriorated and financial needs are increasing and without a general bold action, there is a real risk of major economies going back rather than moving forward." 

Lagarde said that she believes in European future of Greece and it is supported strongly by the two most powerful economies of the European Union - Germany and France. The IMF chief said Euro leaders must identify all risks and ensure that the banking system in the union is well capitalized under the current conditions. 

Tags: Greece economy crisis Juncker IMF Troika
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