–Troika Postpones Trip To Greece For Same Reason

ATHENS (MNI) – The new Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his
designated finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos, are both in the hospital
and will miss a crucial EU summit meeting in Brussels this week.

And because of their illness, inspectors from the European
Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central
Bank — the so-called Troika — have postponed the planned visit to
Athens by a week, an EU official told MNI. The Troika’s mission is to
review the economic situation in Greece and determine how far behind its
fiscal and reform targets the Greek government has fallen.

Both Samaras and Rapanos have been hospitalized since Friday — the
prime minister for emergency eye surgery to repair a torn retina and
Rapanos after he fainted. Samaras is on strict bed rest after his
surgery on Saturday. Rapanos is expected to remain in the hospital until
Tuesday.

The postponement of the Troika’s visit “was necessary because in
order for it to begin negotiations it had to meet both with the premier
and the finance minister,” the EU official said.

At the summit, to be held Thursday and Friday, EU leaders had
planned to discuss whether to grant Greece easier terms on its bailout
program.

In Samara’s absence, the Greek delegation at the summit will be led
by Foreign Minister Dimitris Avraamopoulos, Development and Competition
Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, outgoing caretaker finance minister George
Zannias, and alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

The party leaders of Greece’s new coalition government said in a
joined statement on Saturday that they would seek to curb layoffs and
extend the country’s deficit cutting process by two years, to 2016,
because of the deeper than expected recession.

The statement said the government would seek to meet all fiscal
goals “without further cuts to salaries, pensions and public
investment,” suggesting a freeze on layoffs in the civil service and a
boost to unemployment benefits.

“The aim is to avoid layoffs of permanent staff, but to economize a
serious amount through non-salary operational costs and less
bureaucracy,” the document said.

The new government said it also wanted to review minimum wage cuts
and measures taken earlier this year to facilitate private-sector
layoffs, arguing that collective labor agreements would “return to the
level defined by European social law” and what Europeans have agreed on.

The document said that the requirements are subject to negotiations
with the Troika.

–Athens bureau, a_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com

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