|
|
|
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-10-27
CONTENTS
[01] First round of talks with institutions end, new round starts on
Nov. 14 -Tsakalotos
[01] First round of talks with institutions end, new round starts on
Nov. 14 -Tsakalotos
The government concluded on Thursday the first round of negotiations
with the institutions on the second program review, Finance Minister
Euclid Tsakalotos said on Thursday, adding the heads of the institutions
will return on November 14.
According to a senior government official, the two sides discussed
finance issues of the Justice ministry, the out-of-court settlement
of non-performing loans and fiscal data. Concerning fiscal data, talks
centered on how to close the 2016 budget with target-exceeding revenues,
as well as the 2017 budget. The same official expressed certainty that the
primary surplus this year will exceed the target of 0.5 percent of GDP.
He also said that substantial progress has been achieved on labour
reforms, fiscal issues and the minimum guaranteed income, while great
progress has been achieved on all other issues.
The official also denied statements made by the IMF's spokesman earlier
today who said that parallel negotiations are underway in Athens,
noting that the IMF is negotiating along with the other institutions
and has not stated its own conditions on the Memorandum of Economic and
Financial Policies (MEFP) Greece will have to sign if the Fund returns
to the program.
|
