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The Greek government and the representatives of the creditors have come to an agreement regarding the implementation of privatizations, as stated by sources in Athens referred to by the Greek media. At the same time, both sides argue about how to allocate the proceeds. The cabinet of SYRIZA wants to use them for "economic growth" and the creditors for the payment of part of the foreign debt of Greece.

The meetings of the Brussels group that resumed on Saturday and are now taking place in Paris will discuss all outstanding issues. It seems however that the Greek side does not want the pension reform to be one of them and will try to avoid the discussion, even if the representatives of the creditors raise the matter.

Government sources in Athens have reported progress in negotiations. The Greek negotiators have submitted new proposals such as the imposition of the "luxury vacation" tax that will probably be discussed at the extraordinary teleconference meeting of the EuroWorking Group on Wednesday. The decision to hold it was taken on Saturday.

"The government supports an honest and not a painful compromise," said Athens, insisting that it is working to reach an agreement with the creditors. Government sources say that the government is considering scenarios for a referendum or early elections only in the event of a complete deadlock in the negotiations.

According to them, the creditors stated during the meeting of the Brussels group on Saturday that Greece’s primary budget surplus in 2015 should amount to 1.2% of its gross domestic product.

According to the German media, secret negotiations are taking place at the political level too. They state that President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have held constant phone calls aimed at reaching an agreement. However, Athens admits that the chances of this happening at the forthcoming meeting of the euro zone member states in Riga are insignificant.

Meanwhile, Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis sharply reacted to the statement of his Austrian counterpart Hans Georg Schelling who described as insufficient the cooperation of Greece with the representatives of its creditors. According to Schelling, Athens is trying its best to avoid committing itself to implement its obligations, making it impossible for euro zone ministers of finance to obtain written information on the state of the Greek economy. He gives as an example the Eurogroup meeting on 20 February at which he said the Greeks provided verbal assurances but did not want to sign their written form.

In an interview with the German Der Standard, Varoufakis determines the statement by Schelling as an "offensive lie," adding that Athens has provided all the relevant reforms and proposals documents.

In parallel, the Greek Minister of Finance once again warns that if Greece leaves the euro zone, the contagion in the rest of the member states will be inevitable. In an interview with a Spanish TV, which was broadcast last night, he said, "Some claim that the rest of Europe has been ring-fenced from Greece and that the European Central Bank already has the tools at its disposal to amputate Greece from the rest of the euro zone, if need be, cauterize the wound and allow the rest of euro zone to carry on. I very much doubt that that is the case. Not just because of Greece but for any other euro zone member state."

Varoufakis’ statements were recorded shortly before President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi’s announcement that the euro zone now has better mechanisms than in the past to tackle the Greek debt crisis. In addition, he warned that if the situation worsened, the institution would not hesitate to take measures that had not been unimplemented so far.

Famous economist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman also expressed an opinion that a possible Grexit would cause a disaster both in Greece and in the rest of the euro zone countries. He arrived in Athens to deliver a lecture on "Europe: What next?" that was organized by the Athens Development and Governance Institute (ADGI - INERPOST), which is headed by former minister of PASOK Gerasimos Arsenis, the husband of Chairperson of the National Bank of Greece Louka Katseli.

Krugman's statement in favour of keeping Greece in the euro zone is a step back from his previous firm position but he still categorically stands behind his words that the introduction of the single European currency was a misstep due to the lack of a banking union and economic integration among the euro zone member states.

In his words, the requirements of the creditors of Greece are in the wrong direction, as the applied programme so far has not solved the financial problem of the country. According to Krugman, the statement that the Greek economy needs structural reforms is "very doubtful" because the country has already carried out many reforms during the successful budgetary consolidation process, as he defines it.

The Nobel Prize winner accuses Europe of fetishism to reforms, stating that Greece needs alleviated austerity measures, reforms where they are actually necessary as well as keeping its position in the euro zone. According to Krugman, the Eurosystem is the one that needs deep reforms, the main one being its economic integration.