Brussels, 06/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The meeting of the Eurogroup on Monday 9 December will be brief and simply examine the situation in countries in receipt of aid, along with Slovenia, and is not expected to make any decisions, apart perhaps from a decision on the disbursement of an aid instalment for Cyprus.
Cyprus. Cyprus is close to getting the go-ahead from its lenders for the payment of €100 million in aid. Two prior actions still need to be applied, one of which is to speed up the privatisation process. The government announced this week that it has approved a roadmap to this effect, which will be examined in detail ahead of the Eurogroup meeting.
Greece. The troika of lenders (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) and Greece will report on the fourth troika monitoring mission in the country. On prior actions, which need to be introduced before the next aid disbursement (€1 billion has been awaited since October), the only one left to be introduced is the closure or restructuring of a number of public enterprises. The troika left Athens at the end of November, but is expected to return after the Eurogroup meeting. Once the outstanding issues have been settled, including the budget gap for 2014, a high-ranking official says, the troika recommendations will be turned into Eurogroup decisions as quickly as possible.
Portugal. The same high-ranking official did not want to comment on how the Portuguese constitutional court might rule on measures recommended by the troika and included in the country's draft budget for 2014. He said: “If ruled out, then in 2014 the Portuguese government will have to revisit the issue, but I can't say to what extent”. He said it was too soon to say whether the 2013 budget situation was better than expected and the Eurogroup will discuss the matter next year.
Ireland. The ministers will examine the situation in Ireland, which will be exiting the aid programme on 15 December.
Slovenia. Slovenia is not in receipt of aid, but will be briefing the meeting in advance of the outcome of the bank stress tests to be unveiled on 12 December. The source said that the rumours in the press of capital needs of some €5 billion were “highly astonishing and original” but, if accurate, this would be “easily manageable” at national level, adding that “we're light years away from any decision” on capital controls in Slovenia.
The IMF will publish a report on the eurozone's financial and economic situation. The IMF agrees with Europe that there are tender green shoots of recovery and the absolute priority is to put banking union in place. (EL/transl.fl)