Brussels, 13/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 13 January, the European Commission said that no decision has yet been taken about when the troika of lenders (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund) will return to Greece. Greek newspaper Capital, says that at the weekend, Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras was confident that the troika will return to the capital this very week.
Stournaras said when he left a meeting on Saturday with the Greek prime minister and deputy prime minister, that information about the budget gap for 2014 had been sent to the three troika institutions and Greece was now awaiting a response.
Berlin, meanwhile, has opened the door to potential new aid in 2016. In an interview in Rheinische Post, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaüble, said: “If Greece meets all its obligations by the end of 2015, achieving a primary budget surplus, and still needs financial help, we would be willing to do something.” He added: “As was stated by the Eurogroup on 21 February 2012, we are committed to providing adequate support to Greece during the life of the programme and beyond until it has regained market access, provided that Greece fully complies with the requirements and objectives of the adjustment programme.” But Greece wants to begin its return to the markets in the summer of this year, thus avoiding any third bailout. Schaüble said that any need for further aid would be assessed in the middle of the year, but any aid that might be needed would be much less than the previous aid programmes. (EL/transl.fl)