Creditors return for fourth review

With the third bailout review still pending, the heads of the creditors’ representatives are set to arrive in Athens on Monday for the start of talks on the fourth and final review of the program, while technical discussions on the issue of lightening the Greek debt are also ongoing.

Talks on the fourth review will begin with only 11 or 12 of the prior actions having been implemented to date, out of a total 88. However, there are still two milestones from the third review to be implemented, concerning the development of the Elliniko plot in southern Athens and the increase in and expansion of online auctions. Only when these are seen to have been fulfilled will the creditors approve the disbursement of the first subtranche of 5.7 billion euros from the third installment, to be followed by the remaining 1 billion euros at a later date.

Therefore discussions on the fourth review next week will, according to sources, only be of a provisional nature, with the main issues being set out and a timetable determined for the process. The heads of the creditors’ mission will leave next Saturday and return to Greece in April, probably after the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund on April 20-22.

Technical talks on the easing of Greece’s debt and its association with the implementation of reforms are also continuing, as the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, confirmed on Friday, reiterating his statements in an interview with Kathimerini last month.

The technical team of the eurozone is expected to present its provisional conclusions at the Euro Working Group meeting of March 1 for an early assessment, with the issue set to be revisited at the March 12 Eurogroup meeting.

Eurozone sources stress that the discussion will continue in the following months and that there will be more clarity on the debt relief matter at April’s Eurogroup, adding that one should not expect an agreement before May or June, as such decisions “require more than one debate at a Eurogroup level.”

Source: ekathimerini.com