Brussels, 04/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday night, eurozone finance ministers agreed to meet again on 13 December, on the fringes of the European Summit, to examine the bond buy-back operation launched by Greece on Monday 3 December. Greece is planning to cuts its debt by some €20 billion by using €10 billion from the EFSF to buy back at a discount up to €60 billion in sovereign bonds still held by private investors (see EUROPE 10743).
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn refused to comment on the buy-back, for which the deadline is Friday 7 December. French economy minister Pierre Moscovici said he was confident that all would go well and the 13 December meeting should enable the eurozone to make the formal decision to disburse the next instalment of aid to Greece, €34.4 billion.
The modus operandi on which the ministers agreed on 27 November (see EUROPE 10739) covers loans of €9.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013, payable in three separate instalments. This is conditional upon the Greek government implementing the reforms set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, particularly tax changes in January.
The changes to the tax system are giving the Greek coalition government something to gripe about because the PASOK and Democratic Left parties oppose the new 45% tax on income of more than €26,000 a year. The Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, will be meeting several ministers on Tuesday and the finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, will meet the leaders of the two parties to try and come to an understanding. Democratic Left is suggesting as an alternative that taxes on savings and assets, rather than income, should be increased. (EL/transl.fl)