Brussels, 20/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - Not much progress seems to have been made in the negotiations between the Greek government and the troika of lenders (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) over the 2014 budget gap. On Thursday, Greek Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras is planning to present the country's budget for 2014 to the Greek parliament.
On Wednesday, the parties failed to reach agreement, despite the new proposal from the government of further budget savings of €1.3 billion in 2014. Recent developments therefore seem to confirm the Eurogroup's fears that agreement is unlikely to be reached ahead of its meeting on 9 December. An EU source commented laconically that discussions were ongoing.
The talks may well drag on, meaning a freezing of further aid until next year, in which case, the parliament may vote through the new budget for next year that includes the €1.3 billion savings without the troika's approval. Greek press reports on Wednesday said the government was warning of the dangers for political stability if the additional austerity measures were to be voted through at the parliament, where the coalition government has a slender majority of just four seats. The troika might pay attention to this argument, but it often points out in its monitoring reports the danger of government instability hampering implementation of the aid programme.
On Wednesday, the Greek administrative reform minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, met with troika representatives, hoping to win more time for the second round of layoffs from the civil service without any strings attached. Stournaras will be in Brussels on Thursday for the Eurogroup meeting on Friday. On Friday, the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, will meet the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin. (EL/transl.fl)