Brussels, 18/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 July 2012, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournara said the Greek government had to do more to work out how to save €11.5 billion in 2013 and 2014, as required by its international lenders, the EU and the IMF.
Stournara said there was now broad agreement on the savings but no final details. He said as much to the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, and his government allies, the head of the Socialist PASOK party, Evangelos Venizelos, and the head of the moderate Left Dimar party, Fotis Kouvelis.
The €11.5 billion of spending cuts to be carried out in 2013 and 2014 will require more work, said Stournaras. The meeting of the three political leaders was to finalise the measures so that the troika's fact-finders can return to Athens (the troika being the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF) to carry out a new audit of Greece's finances before giving the go-ahead (or not, as the case may be) for the payment of €31.5 billion-worth of aid by September.
Venizelos and Kouvelis say Greece may ask its European partners to give it more time to introduce the €11.5 billion spending cuts.
Thus far, the eurozone leaders (headed by Germany) have required Greece to introduce conditions and improvements before allowing the payment of aid. Berlin said on Friday that it would refuse to give Greece any more time to implement its structural reform programme.
Greece is concerned because it will need money by the end of August to roll over its loans and therefore the question of a bridging loan has been raised. On 20 August 2012, Greece needs to pay back €3.3 billion to the ECB and in theory is supposed to get by with the most recent aid instalment, €4.2 billion, released at the end of May. The problem is that Greece will not be discussed by Eurogroup until September. (LC/transl.fl)