Posted: Sep. 9, 2016 7:00 am Updated: Sep.
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Eurozone finance ministers on Friday ” strongly encouraged” the Greek government to speed up privatisation, energy and bank governance, among other reforms agreed in May.
Left unaddressed at the talks was the part played by the International Monetary Fund, which was key to Greece’s three bailouts but is now holding off until the eurozone ministers commit to debt relief for Athens.
The Greek government needs to press ahead with planned reforms demanded by global lenders so it can receive money, Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference after leading a meeting of the group in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, on Friday.
Under a deal signed previous year with euro zone countries, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Greece can receive financial assistance of up to 86 billion euros by 2018 in return for agreed reforms.
The subtranche of 2.8 billion euros will be disbursed upon completion of the first review, including over 1 billion euros to be used for the repayment of state debts to the market. So far, Greece has only met two of those conditions, with the remainder at varying degrees of implementation.
The Greek prime minister and other leaders in southern Europe have called for action to boost flagging growth, saying they needed a bigger say in Europe.
“We have to tell them clearly that they need to stick with their commitments, we need to be really demanding, but at the same time let’s not dramatize”, said Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s top economy official.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was not optimistic over the impact of the gathering, which some have derisively termed “Club Med”.
Greece, which depends on a bailout c.
Protesters demanded for the government to pull out of the bailout deal with Greece’s worldwide creditors and put an end to austerity measures demanded in exchange for unlocking bailout funds.
“It’s not a secret. that there is a lot to be done to complete these reforms”, he said after the ministers discussed Greece’s bailout.
European Union leaders were scheduled to meet in Bratislava next week. “Our message is not for there to be separate rules for Mediterranean countries, but there to be clear rules for the European Union”.
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The European Union’s Mediterranean countries ganged up to ask for less austerity and more money for southern economies that suffer the most from the influx of immigrants, high unemployment and brain drain.
