Brussels, 05/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the next Eurogroup meeting, in Milan on Friday 12 September, eurozone finance ministers will discuss the prospects for the fifth troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) monitoring mission in Greece, which is due to begin in Athens towards the end of the month.
It is against the backdrop of this mission that questions relating to a potential reduction in the green debt and the financing of the country beyond 2014 will be discussed. At the Euro working group (EWG) on Thursday evening, national experts talked about preparatory meetings between the Greek government and the troika in Paris to pave the way for the mission proper. The troika described the talks in Paris on Thursday as “productive”. The Greek media say meetings may also take place in Washington in mid-November. Greece is hoping to restore financial autonomy within the eurozone at the end of the year. As if he wanted to hammer home his desire to shake off the troika shackles, the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, is reported by Greek newspaper Kathimerini to be planning to announce tax cuts in a speech in Thessalonica on Saturday even though they have not yet been agreed with the troika. The troika forecasts a funding gap of €2 billion for next year, a figure that Greece says will be more like €900 million. The EWG also discussed Elstat, the Greek statistics office, but simply as a matter of routine. (EL)