Eurozone finance ministers have called on the Greek government to act faster on its economic reforms so the country can get a new tranche of bailout cash before the end of October.
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Germany, the European Union’s biggest economy and longtime critic of Greece’s economic performance, is very reluctant to discuss granting debt relief for Athens before its elections.
At another meeting of European leaders in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday, finance ministers from across the bloc cautioned against letting deficits grow in Spain and Portugal. So far, Greece has only met two of those conditions, with the remainder at varying degrees of implementation.
“We will talk of course. informally, but all the more intensively, about how to strengthen Europe after the British decision”, he said, mentioning higher investment and stronger tax regulation as areas of discussion. “Germany in particular is annoyed at the lack of progress over Greece’s new privatization fund – a key part of last year’s deal to keep Greece in the Euro – where the supervisory board, let alone the management team, has not yet been appointed”, Rahman added. “There was a general feeling that we must not lose time”, Eurogroup president Jeroes Dijsselbloem said after the meeting in Bratislava.
Though Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told his counterparts from the 19-country eurozone that the government intends to complete the milestones in a timely manner, the country is unlikely to meet a September 15 deadline.
While work to enact the remaining requirements – such as asset sales and bank governance – for the latest payout is under way and the Greek government has time to qualify for the disbursement before it expires at the end of October, any persistent delays risk clouding the outlook for the next worldwide review of Greece’s bailout progress and the prospects for debt relief being dangled by the creditors.
Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, praised Greece’s efforts to put its economic house in order but said Athens’ job is not done.
“When socialist party leaders meet nothing terribly intelligent comes out of it most of the time”, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters.
The speedy completion of the remaining milestones “would strengthen confidence in the Greek economy”, European Central Bank governing council member Benoit Coeure said.
“The message must be heard”, he said.
Tsipras, an anti-austerity champion who says the fiscal straitjacket favoured by Germany will never allow weak economies such as Greece’s to recover, is also trying to swing more European Union states to his vision.
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