Brussels, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The troika of lenders to Greece (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) finally returned to Athens on Monday 24 February for what should be two weeks of work if the parties stick to the timetable.
The parties disagree on the recapitalisation requirements for Greek banks. Figures compiled by the Greek central bank based on analysis by BlackRock suggest €6 billion will be required in total. The Financial Times says that the troika's estimates are of the order of €20 billion. A eurozone source concedes that the new capital requirements should not impact on any new Greek bailout because it was not assumed that the remaining cash earmarked for banks (around €10 billion) would be used to cover other government spending, but this is an issue on which the parties cannot agree.
Alongside the health of the financial sector, structural reforms will figure high on the troika's agenda, particularly implementation by the Greek authorities of the OECD recommendations for eliminating obstacles to competition. The parties hope to be able to conclude the mission ahead of the next Eurogroup meeting on 10 March. Greece is hoping for €3.1 billion from the eurozone in the final quarter of 2013, and €5.7 billion in the first quarter of 2014, but the exact figures are not known yet. For the same periods, there is still €1.8 billion and €3.5 billion to come from the IMF. (EL/transl.fl)