Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-05-22

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tsakalotos: Overall deal on Greece's loan tranche, debt feasible within three weeks

[02] Dijsselbloem: By June 15 conditions will be ripe for comprehensive deal

[03] Eurogroup welcomes preliminary deal for Greece on reforms

[04] Shipping ministry to seek views of all parties in forming national shipping policy-minister

[01] Tsakalotos: Overall deal on Greece's loan tranche, debt feasible within three weeks

Tsakalotos noted the significant progress achieved and noted that there is widespread agreement that Greece has met its obligations in terms of implementing the prior actions policy package agreed with Greece's lenders. "The representatives of the lenders and the member states of the eurozone stressed the quality of the reforms project," he said and foresaw no obstacles in the formal conclusion of the second review.

[02] Dijsselbloem: By June 15 conditions will be ripe for comprehensive deal

"We are very close to an overall agreement, however that was not possible today," he said during a joint press conference with European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and the head of European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling.

"We have not reached an overall agreement on that part of our discussion. In the coming weeks, we will continue our work on that. We will try to come to a definite conclusion in the next Eurogroup meeting which will be in three weeks' time. We will use that time well to work hard with the institutions and all member states involved," he said.

Dijsselbloem said huge progress has been achieved concerning the policy package and a lot of work has been done in the past few months between Greece and the institutions, noting that Eurogroup commended Greece for having implemented a vast number of prior actions.

"We have made huge progress on the policy package on which so much work had been done in the last months and on which an agreement had been reached between Greece and the institutions. The Eurogroup, of course, welcomed that very much," he said.

He also said the Eurogroup is committed to work further until the next loan installment has been disbursed. "We are very close to the official conclusion of the second review […] We made great progress on a political level and deliberations will continue aiming to conclude the review and disburse the tranche before the summer," he said.

Dijsselbloem said the IMF today also made it clear that they welcomed the progress made. "They are impressed by the reforms and the work done by the Greeks and they still stand ready to go to the board. But they will also wait for the final discussion that we hope to have in 3 weeks' time, in the next Eurogroup, on the issue of debt," he added.

In the coming weeks, the institutions will examine all the possible proposals concerning debt relief, he continued, noting that whatever measures are agreed on, they can only be implemented after the end of the review.

"Today we discussed in which ways we can have debt relief so that the IMF can participate. We also agreed that the primary surplus must be of five-year duration. Our aim is for the IMF to remain in the program and keep funding it," he said.

On his side, Moscovici said that "we didn't reach an agreement but the work done is definitely useful," he said.

"We welcome the reforms Greece has already done," he added, noting the country has completed 104 of the 140 reforms Greece had committed to. "As soon as the rest [reforms] are completed the review will be considered closed."

On Greek debt, Moscovici said that the institutions had long discussions. He also said Greece is already meeting all the conditions for an exit from the excessive deficit procedure, adding that this exit will take place after the completion of the program review.

[03] Eurogroup welcomes preliminary deal for Greece on reforms

"The Eurogroup commended the progress achieved by Greece in already implementing a significant part of the agreed prior actions. The reform measures, legislated by Greece, cover areas such as pensions, income tax, the labour market and the energy sector. They should support the growth-friendly rebalancing of the economy and make Greece's medium-term fiscal strategy more robust," it said in a press release after the meeting.

The Eurogroup invited the institutions together with Greece and third parties to support "a holistic growth-enhancing strategy".

Eurozone's finance ministers also held an in-depth discussion on the sustainability of Greece's public debt "but did not reach an overall agreement," it said, adding that work will continue in the coming weeks "within the framework agreed in May 2016 with a view to reaching a definitive conclusion at the next Eurogroup meeting".

This includes an ambitious and economically sound medium-term primary surplus path for Greece, the Eurogroup said.

[04] Shipping ministry to seek views of all parties in forming national shipping policy-minister

"Because we understand it is an issue of national importance, we have the political courage, as soon as we are ready to submit this initiative before all the parties, to cooperate on this issue, and if possible, to develop a national policy on this crucial issue, because with such a policy we can truly tackle dangers and boost this sector further," he said.

Kouroumblis said the government has set 12 specific targets for training, for –among others- island policy, for the Shipbuilding Zone, seafarer shipping and cabotage.

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