Technical Talks on Greece’s Bailout Not Going Well, Officials Say
European Commission, ECB and IMF complain of getting very little information
By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER and VIKTORIA DENDRINOU
Wall Street Journal
March 18, 2015 12:22 p.m. ET
BRUSSELS—Talks between Greece and its international creditors have made little progress, officials said, with each side blaming the other for the snags in negotiations over the future of the country’s bailout.
Greek officials are providing teams from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund with very little information on the government’s finances and its plans for overhauling its economy and public sector, two European officials said Wednesday.
“The line was that the Greeks aren’t cooperating,” one of the officials said, summarizing the institutions’ account during a teleconference the day before among senior eurozone finance ministry officials.
A Greek official said the technical teams had gone beyond their role as fact-finders and had sought to intervene in politics, continuing a frequent line of complaint from Athens about the so-called troika of inspectors.
The technical work is key to figuring out when Greece may run out of money and whether the rest of the eurozone is prepared to provide further support to the new left-wing government, which was elected in late January.
“I continue to be worried,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday about the talks. ”I’m not happy with the progress that’s been achieved over the last few days.”
Eurozone finance ministers agreed in February to extend Greece’s €240 billion ($254 billion) bailout by four months, until the end of June. However, there has been little progress on defining what Greece has to do in return for sustained aid, adding to concerns over the country’s future in the eurozone.
During the teleconference, the Greek representative said his government wasn’t prepared to talk about finances with technical experts.
Representatives of the three institutions said that, based on the limited information they have, the Greek government would be able to sustain payments only for another few weeks, according to the one official.
They also asked Greece to hold off on a bill that would provide new support for the poor until they have had time to assess its impact on the budget, in line with a deal to extend the bailout.
But early Thursday, lawmakers in Athens passed the bill, the new government’s first. The measures, which provide subsidized electricity and food stamps to low-income households, are expected to cost around €200 million ($213 million).
Greece says the measures will be offset by cutbacks elsewhere, including reducing spending at ministries and adopting a new, more transparent system for awarding state procurement contracts.
“This is the first bill in five years that doesn’t take something from the people but will offer them something,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said before the vote ‘I continue to be worried. I’m not happy with the progress that’s been achieved over the last few days.’
Mr. Tsipras also said Greece plans to push ahead with a vote this week to reopen the state broadcaster and offer taxpayers more lenient terms on arrears owed—also without having been given the green light from international creditors.
The location and content of talks has been a sticking point over the last two months. Greece had pushed for the talks to be held in Brussels, saying the troika’s previous forays in the Greek capital have been disruptive and sparked protests.
But European officials insisted that some experts would need to be in Greece to access key data on government accounts, for instance, and to speak to experts at ministries.
In the hope of finding a political solution, Mr. Tsipras has asked to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the sidelines of an EU summit this week.
A spokesman for Donald Tusk, who presides over summits of EU leaders, said the meeting would take place on Thursday, after the end of the first day. The leaders will be joined by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who presides over the group of eurozone finance ministers, he said.
Greece faces yet another deadline Friday, as it has to repay some €350 million to the IMF and refinance some €1.6 billion of short-term notes.
—Nektaria Stamouli contributed to this article.
Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com and Viktoria Dendrinou at viktoria.dendrinou@wsj.com
By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER and VIKTORIA DENDRINOU
Wall Street Journal
March 18, 2015 12:22 p.m. ET
BRUSSELS—Talks between Greece and its international creditors have made little progress, officials said, with each side blaming the other for the snags in negotiations over the future of the country’s bailout.
Greek officials are providing teams from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund with very little information on the government’s finances and its plans for overhauling its economy and public sector, two European officials said Wednesday.
“The line was that the Greeks aren’t cooperating,” one of the officials said, summarizing the institutions’ account during a teleconference the day before among senior eurozone finance ministry officials.
A Greek official said the technical teams had gone beyond their role as fact-finders and had sought to intervene in politics, continuing a frequent line of complaint from Athens about the so-called troika of inspectors.
The technical work is key to figuring out when Greece may run out of money and whether the rest of the eurozone is prepared to provide further support to the new left-wing government, which was elected in late January.
“I continue to be worried,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday about the talks. ”I’m not happy with the progress that’s been achieved over the last few days.”
Eurozone finance ministers agreed in February to extend Greece’s €240 billion ($254 billion) bailout by four months, until the end of June. However, there has been little progress on defining what Greece has to do in return for sustained aid, adding to concerns over the country’s future in the eurozone.
During the teleconference, the Greek representative said his government wasn’t prepared to talk about finances with technical experts.
Representatives of the three institutions said that, based on the limited information they have, the Greek government would be able to sustain payments only for another few weeks, according to the one official.
They also asked Greece to hold off on a bill that would provide new support for the poor until they have had time to assess its impact on the budget, in line with a deal to extend the bailout.
But early Thursday, lawmakers in Athens passed the bill, the new government’s first. The measures, which provide subsidized electricity and food stamps to low-income households, are expected to cost around €200 million ($213 million).
Greece says the measures will be offset by cutbacks elsewhere, including reducing spending at ministries and adopting a new, more transparent system for awarding state procurement contracts.
“This is the first bill in five years that doesn’t take something from the people but will offer them something,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said before the vote ‘I continue to be worried. I’m not happy with the progress that’s been achieved over the last few days.’
Mr. Tsipras also said Greece plans to push ahead with a vote this week to reopen the state broadcaster and offer taxpayers more lenient terms on arrears owed—also without having been given the green light from international creditors.
The location and content of talks has been a sticking point over the last two months. Greece had pushed for the talks to be held in Brussels, saying the troika’s previous forays in the Greek capital have been disruptive and sparked protests.
But European officials insisted that some experts would need to be in Greece to access key data on government accounts, for instance, and to speak to experts at ministries.
In the hope of finding a political solution, Mr. Tsipras has asked to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the sidelines of an EU summit this week.
A spokesman for Donald Tusk, who presides over summits of EU leaders, said the meeting would take place on Thursday, after the end of the first day. The leaders will be joined by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who presides over the group of eurozone finance ministers, he said.
Greece faces yet another deadline Friday, as it has to repay some €350 million to the IMF and refinance some €1.6 billion of short-term notes.
—Nektaria Stamouli contributed to this article.
Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com and Viktoria Dendrinou at viktoria.dendrinou@wsj.com
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