–Troika To Remain In Athens As Long As Necessary
ATHENS (MNI) – Representatives of the European Commission, the ECB
and the IMF, the so-called troika, will remain in Greece for as long as
needed in order to determine the E11.6 billion worth of consolidation
measures needed over the next three years, a Finance Ministry official
said Sunday.
The troika had originally planned to leave Athens at the end of
July and return at the end of August to conclude its inspection of the
Greek economy and negotiations for the three-year economic program.
But IMF representative Poul Thomsen informed Greek Finance Minister
Yiannis Stournaras that the intention “is to stay as long as needed in
order to shape a credible package of measures.”
The ministry official said the exchange took place Friday evening
during a dinner between Stournaras and Thomsen, at the latter’s request.
“The mood was extremely good and marks a change in the so far
hostile attitude of the representatives of our lenders,” the official
said. “Mr. Thomsen assured the Greek finance minister that the troika
will help determine the measures needed and will then depart to draft
the report that will pave the way for the disbursement of the loan
tranche.”
A Greek government official told MNI that the state is running
dangerously short of cash, since it has not received financial aid
for domestic use since last March.
“Since then, the money we have received goes straight to fulfilling
our loan obligations. The E4.2 billion in June never came, and if the
troika inspections continue until end-September, we would be forced to
stop all payments, including salaries and pensions,” he said.
With the troika concluding its inspections earlier, the Greek
government hopes it will receive a loan tranche in mid-September, the
official added.
– Athens bureau ; a_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com
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