BRUSSELS (MNI) – Officials from the European Commission,
International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, tasked with
assessing whether Greece has met the conditions tied to its second
bailout programme, have no specific deadline to complete their report, a
spokesman for the Commission said on Tuesday.
The officials will arrive in Athens in “early September” and are
expected to take “several weeks,” but they have “no firm deadline” to
complete their report, the spokesman said. The team from the three
institutions, known as the Troika, “will take as long as needed,” he
said.
Although the Troika has no official deadline, there is strong
political pressure for the work to be ready in time for a Eurozone
finance ministers’ meeting scheduled for October 8. If the report is
positive and Eurozone governments agree to authorize a further tranche
of aid, it would come just in time for Greece’s cash-strapped government
to meet its obligations.
Turning to Spain, the Commission spokesman said that it was still
too early to say if some struggling banks would have to be closed. Under
the terms of Spain’s agreement with the Eurozone for up to E100 billion
in aid to rescue its banking system, a detailed analysis of individual
banks’ needs is expected to be completed in October.
–Brussels newsroom: +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com
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