Brussels, 23/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The heads of mission of the institutions (European Commission, ECB, IMF and ESM) representing lenders to Greece left Athens on Friday 23 October as scheduled in the initial timeline. At this stage, however, the payment of a sub-instalment of aid to the tune of €2 billion cannot yet be pencilled in.
The Greek authorities have until the end of the month to complete implementation of the prior actions required before the €2 billion can be paid and a source close to the talks said that a significant workload remained to be dealt with.
During a meeting on Friday with the French president, François Hollande, the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, hinted that one of the deadlocks in the talks was toxic loans and house repossessions. At a press conference with Hollande, Tsipras declared that turning Greece into an 'arena of confiscation' of homes was out of the question. The French president supported his Greek colleague in a speech at the country's parliament, saying that house-owners must be protected. Hollande is quoted by Reuters as saying: “It is very important for commitments to be met, and for there to be no doubts over fundamental rights of families in Greece - the right for a roof over their heads - and here I'm speaking about confiscations of primary residences.”
During the first quarter of 2015, toxic loans made up 35.6% of loans on Greek banks' balance sheets, second only to Cyprus. Greece wants protection to the value of €200,000 to be provided for owners, but Reuters says the institutions would prefer protection of €120,000. It currently stands at €300,000.
The European Commission said on Friday that it had taken note of the Greek government's decision not to dismiss the country's secretary general for public revenue, Katerina Savvaidou. Refusing to comment on the decision, Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said: “Improving tax compliance and collection is one of the key eco challenges facing Greece. In that context, the autonomy of the secretatiat is central to its institutional credibility and effectiveness. We're in contact with the Greek authorities for clarifications.” Breidthardt said the topic might come up during Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis' visit to Athens on Monday 26 October. The Commission expressed deep concern at the sudden departure of Savvaidou's predecessor in June 2014 (see EUROPE 11096). (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)