Brussels, 11/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 10 March, the Eurogroup demanded positive results in the talks this week between the troika of lenders (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) and the Greek government in the fourth monitoring mission (which began in September).
The head of the eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said there were “grounds for optimism” and progress has already been made since the troika returned to Athens a fortnight ago. Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn said there “remain a number of differences to overcome in order to reach an overall agreement” to draw the mission to a close. Dijsselbloem said the outstanding issues had not changed over the past couple of months and were fiscal issues, bank questions and economic reforms. Rehn said: “Economic reforms are especially essential in order to conclude the review mission and there is a chance if everyone makes an effort to go the last mile and do their part”, to conclude the mission by the end of the week. Dijsselbloem said that the Greek authorities must “do their utmost to get a result before end of week. The troika representatives cannot stay forever in Athens, there as to be an end one day, the responsibility lies first and foremost with the Greeks and it is up to the Greek government to put forward proposals.”
The Eurogroup welcomed the results of the Greek bank stress tests and the announcement that the banks would recapitalise using private sources of finance. Asked about a potential gap over the size of the capital requirements between the Greek central bank (lower requirements that the banks will be using for their recapitalisation) and the IMF (higher requirements), Dijsselbloem said that the Greek central bank bore sole responsibility for the recent stress test results.
Klaus Regling, the director general of the European Financial Stability Facility, said that the troika mission's outcome would determine the size and timing of the next batch of aid from the EFSF, adding that there remains €10.1 billion earmarked for Greece. (EL)