BRUSSELS (MNI) – Officials from the European Commission,
International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank will be in Athens
next Tuesday to monitor Greece’s compliance with the conditions of its
bailout package, a spokesman for the Commission confirmed Thursday.
The mission will “help us to have the most clear and up to date
picture about the state of public finances in Greece,” the spokesman
said.
Earlier Thursday, Greece’s finance ministry announced that the
government’s budget deficit in 2011 had widened by 0.8% to E21.6 billion
as a result of a deteriorating economy, in line with its revised target
but far from the E17 billion initially hoped for in the bailout program
agreed in May last year.
Greece needs to convince the IMF and its EU partners that it is
honoring its pledges on fiscal and structural reforms in order to secure
a next tranche of aid due in March.
German chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday warned that more progress
on finalizing a voluntary restructuring of Greek debt held by private
investors would also be crucial to securing the next disbursement of
aid.
–Brussels bureau: +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$$CR$,M$Y$$$,MGX$$$]
