Brussels, 30/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Greek authorities are continuing their campaign to the various bodies of the European Union, with a view to gathering as much support as possible for an early departure from the IMF programme, together with the granting of a precautionary credit line under the European Stability Mechanism to deal with any unforeseen circumstances. Following a bilateral meeting between the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras and the president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, last Friday, followed by various talks between Samaras and certain heads of state at the most recent European summit, the Greek finance minister, Gikas Hardouvelis, took the opportunity of his trip to Berlin for the Global Forum for a bilateral meeting with the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.
The general message that went out in Berlin differs in the various media reports. The Greek press quotes its minister referring to an understanding in Germany of the need to start a new relationship from January 2015, whilst MNI described the German stance as getting tougher.
The German finance minister also disclaimed information printed in the Greek press that the two states had reached an “agreement on further support for Greece after the end of its bailout”, referring to inconclusive discussions.
However, the Greeks made a good start to the week. In the light of the results of the banking sector health check, the Commission told EUROPE on Monday that it expected that “a large part of the capital buffer of €11 billion (Ed: reserved for the banks of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund) would no longer be necessary for this objective and could be returned to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)”, with a reduction of public debt as a consequence. The Greeks therefore want this envelope to be used as a precautionary credit line under the ESM in the event of any turbulence on the markets.
In an interview with Bloomberg on 30 October, the Greek minister for administrative reform, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also anticipated a “climate of uncertainty until February”, when a successor will be found to President Karolas Papoulias. The governmental coalition needs the support of 180 MPs, but has only 155. In the event of failure, early elections could be held, with a risk that the radical left-wing party Syriza could end up taking the reins of a country still in recovery. “The volatility is caused by the fear of snap elections and the possibility that these will be won by a party which is not normal”, Mitsotakis explained. “The law-makers will know what's at stake”, the Greek minister added by way of reassurance.
It is also worth noting that the committee on budgets of the national parliament issued a report on Wednesday, describing the government's growth forecast as optimistic and expressing concern at the absence of any clear measures to create growth conditions. (EL)