Brussels, le 02/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - The next progress report by the troika of lenders to Greece (the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) on the second Greek bailout is unlikely to be ready in time for the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 8 October. The EU 17 finance ministers will have to make do with an informal assessment, explained a spokesperson for Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn on Tuesday 2 October. Negotiations will continue this week between the Greek government and its international lenders on agreement on future budget measures, which have been laid down as a precondition for payment of the next instalment of financial aid. The Greek media suggest that a cut in minimum pay and cuts in pensions are two of the sticking points between Athens and its lenders.
Greece is still aiming to reach agreement with its lenders in order to be able to present it to the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, explained Greek government spokesperson Simos Kedikoglou on Monday evening after a 35-minute meeting between the troika and the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras. Sweeping aside speculation that the talks had broken down, Kedikoglou admitted that the discussions were hard-going. There is disagreement among the country's two biggest parties about €2 billion of the €13.5 billion savings package for 2013 and 2014 that the Greek government is required to come up with (see EUROPE 10700). The coalition parties did, however, manage to agree last Thursday on the measures to be included in the package. (EL/transl.fl)