Troika leaving Greece, to return before eurogroup

The three top officials from a visiting team of debt inspectors now in Greece will leave the country later this week, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday.

Their departure, which had been previously scheduled, comes as talks between Greece and the debt inspectors over a multibillion-euro package of budget cuts drag on and appear to be falling ever further behind schedule, Dow Jones Newswires reported.


The officials--from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank--are due to return to Athens in early October, ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers that will rule on whether Greece should receive the next tranche of aid promised under its latest 173-billion-euro ($224 billion) bailout.

"The heads of the delegation had planned to leave toward the end of the week and will return before the eurogroup, with the draft report in progress, so that we can formulate [the final report] together," the official said.

Talks on the package--which aims to cut government spending by the equivalent of 5.5 percentage points worth of gross domestic product, or roughly EUR12 billion over the next two years--have been going on since early September.

If the inspectors sign off on the latest cuts and other reforms, Greece will get EUR31.5 billion in aid next month. The inspectors΄ report, to be delivered before a European finance ministers΄ meeting Oct. 8, will also play a key role in determining whether Greece is able to win a sought-after two-year extension in meeting its budget-deficit targets.

But talks on the package have been dragging on. Earlier Thursday, the leaders of the three parties that make up Greece΄s coalition government failed to sign off on the budget cuts and will meet again next week. That risks further pushing back a deal, jeopardizing the increasingly tight timetable which includes a passing the measures through parliament before the October meeting.

According to the finance ministry official, so far about EUR9.5 billion of total measures have been finalized. Of those, about EUR6.5 billion come from cuts in salaries, pensions and bonuses and another EUR1.1 billion from raising Greece΄s retirement age from 65 currently. Another EUR1.9 billion would come from cuts in spending on health care, defense and local-government operations.

"We hope that by Sunday, 95% of the measures will have been finalized and the remainder by the eurogroup meeting," the official said. 
english.capital.gr
21/9/12 
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Greek Budget Talks Progress But Gap Remains

ATHENS--Talks between Greece and a visiting troika of international debt inspectors over billions of euros in planned Greek budget cuts have progressed, a senior finance ministry official said early Friday, but there are still gaps to close before a deal is reached.
The officials, speaking after a marathon five-hour meeting inside Greece's finance ministry, said the discussions would continue later Friday afternoon.
"There was some progress tonight but there is still a gap. There is still a gap but there are also ideas, new ideas, on how that gap can be covered. The effort continues tomorrow," the official said, adding that he hoped for a deal in the next few days.
Talks on the package--which aims to cut government spending by the equivalent of 5.5 percentage points worth of gross domestic product, or roughly 12 billion euros ($15.6 billion), over the next two years--have been going on since early September.
The troika delegation--from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank--is in Athens to assess Greece's progress in cutting its budget deficit and implement reforms that the country has promised international creditors in exchange for its latest EUR173 billion ($224 billion) bailout.
But the heads of the delegation are due to leave the country by the weekend and won't return to Athens until early October, ahead of a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, that will rule on whether Greece should receive the next tranche of aid promised under that bailout.........nasdaq.com 20/9/12