But the country is eager to secure the new tranche so it can start addressing domestic problems and ensure that state coffers do not start running dangerously low again.
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Tsipras’s office said he had told his cabinet it was a “priority” to conclude negotiations this week to allow the disbursement of 2 billion euros in aid, and another 10 billion to be released towards the recapitalisation of Greece’s four big banks.
The Greek Parliament has agreed to a series of economic changes in moves approved last week and in the middle of last month.
“I’m going to Brussels with the spirit that an agreement should be achieved this afternoon”, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said at a press conference on Monday in Paris.
With this number, a few of Greece’s need may come from private investors, but the Euro Zone is expected to provide the rest, using money that is already earmarked for such goal.
Key outstanding issues include the details of a plan for taxpayers to settle their arrears, the introduction of Value-Added Tax on private schools, as well as home foreclosures, Greek media have reported.
Discussions have stumbled on the level of protection Greek mortgage holders should have if they fail to repay their debt.
On the latter, the Greek government wants to protect vulnerable citizens from losing their homes if they can not pay off their debts, while the country’s creditors insist that all must be held to account.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who leads the Eurogroup, said Greece was making good progress toward unlocking both the bank money and its next slice of general aid funds.
“The 2 billion will only be paid out once the institutions give the green light and say that all agreed actions have been carried out and have been implemented”. “That still has not happened”.
The Greeks are seeking a system that would shield about 70 percent of homeowners from foreclosure, according to two European officials. “People shouldn’t make demands on Greece for something that goes further than in their own country”, he said.
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Athens has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that in order to put an end to the tragedies occurring every other day in the Aegean Sea this year, where thousands of refugees have lost their lives in their attempt to reach Greece in boats provided by smugglers, the European Union should seek stronger cooperation with Ankara.
