Brussels, 18/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Greek authorities are hard at work to conclude a package of €1.3 billion in cuts for 2014, designed to plug the gaps in the draft budget to be voted on by the national parliament on Thursday 21 of this month.
Since the gap in the 2014 budget was publicly revealed by the ECB in October (see EUROPE 10943), the Greek positions have moved on. Initially denying the existence of a gap in the 2013 and 2014 budgets, the Greek government went on to put forward the figure of €500 million before finally attempting to put together a savings package of €1.3 billion. There is no consensus on the contents of the measures. The Greek authorities are in favour of structural reforms, whereas the troika is calling for a cut in public expenditure. It is difficult to say how symbolic the deadline of Thursday will be, as the chances of concluding by then appear slender. Last week, the Eurogroup described the likelihood of any decisions being made at its meeting on 9 December as low (see EUROPE 10964). (EL/transl.fl)