PM chairs meeting to prepare for talks with troika

18:21 24/2/2014 - Πηγή: Matrix24

A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was held at the finance ministry on Sunday to prepare the Greek government’s positions for the start of talks with the troika representing Greece’s lenders, due to start on Monday.

Exiting the meeting, a senior government sources said that the primary surplus will play

a key role in the talks and in «the realisation by all parties» of the Greek economy’s performance.

Questioned about the primary surplus might allow a lightening of the load for Greek citizens, the same sources declined to go into details, saying he preferred to «say little and be precise». Pointing out that the surplus must first be confirmed by Eurostat, the source ventured to predict that a part of this will be «returned» to society.

«Anything that is in that direction is positive. It is the first tangible proof, where individuals will see that the injustices they have suffered are being lifted.»

The source refused to be specific about the possibility of a reduction in taxes, however, saying that this had been planned for 2015 but «we must first see how it goes».

The talks with the EU-IMF troika representing Greece’s creditors are due to kick off on Monday afternoon, when Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras will meet troika representatives at 16:00. They are then due to meet Development and Competitiveness Minister Costis Hatzidakis at 19:00.

Government officials emphasised that the Sunday meeting had ended with agreement between all sides and that the government will be adopting a uniform line on all issues during the talks with the troika. They said that meetings will be held over the coming days between the two parties in the ruling coalition, as part of the preparation of their respective Parliamentary groups, but that there were no longer any disagreements on policy issues.

A source leaving the meeting earlier on noted that the government will present a united front on such issues as the sale of non-prescription drugs, shelf-life for milk and book prices. The same source noted that the government will insist on an 80 pct implementation of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) “toolkit” for competition, whereas the troika was insisting on 100 pct implementation of the OECD proposals.

Development and Competitiveness Minister Costis Hatzidakis and Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis were the first to leave the meeting at the finance ministry.

In statements before it started, meanwhile, a senior source told reporters that the Greek side intends to arrive at the negotiations with the troika with its own “agenda” for structural reforms. He appeared optimistic, however, that a deal will be struck with the country’s creditors before the Eurogroup meeting on March 10.

This source expressed surprise that the OECD toolkit had taken on the status of a «bible» and said the Greek proposals will not be confined to simply replacing some measures proposed by the troika with others but take a different tack.

Those attending the Sunday meeting included Stournaras, Hatzidakis, Georgiadis, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, Deputy Finance Minister George Mavraganis and the finance ministry’s general secretary for public revenues Haris Theoharis.

The Greek side’s aim is to reach an agreement with the troika before the Eurogroup meeting on March 10 so that an 8.3-billion-euro tranche of bailout loans that was not released at the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 might be disbursed.

Source: AMNA