Brussels, 05/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Greek authorities and the institutions (Commission, ECB, IMF, ESM) are continuing to work to close the final outstanding questions related to the first list of prior actions ahead of any further disbursement of financial assistance, before the Eurogroup meeting to take place on Monday 9 November. The parties held a videoconference on the evening of Wednesday 4 November and the Greek camp explained on Thursday that it was ready to make new proposals on Friday evening.
A Greek government source said that the open questions relate to real estate foreclosures and the payment plan to settle tax arrears (in 100 instalments). In both cases, the institutions want to focus on 'persons in strategic payment default'. As regards the settlement of the tax arrears, they are reported to be calling for those who are not making repayments to be immediately debarred from this system of 100 instalments, whereas the Greek authorities are calling for a grace period of 30 days. As regards the property foreclosures, the Greeks recognise the need to toughen up the rules on eligibility for protection and are therefore considering three criteria: revenue, the value of the property and overall debt exposure. Additionally, the Greeks argue that it makes no sense for the banks to be left with a large number of repossessed properties, given the fall in prices on the market.
As well as getting its hands on the outstanding tranche of aid of €2 billion, Athens seems to be committed to the overall success of the programme and this will require certain social standards to be kept up in a society which has reached the limits of its tolerance to austerity measures. It is a question of common sense, a government source explained. The Greek authorities also seem to believe that they can avoid the bail-in for the bank recapitalisation, whilst the eurozone is looking into the possibility of approaching the senior creditors. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)