ECB deferred from reinstating the ‘waiver’ for Greece

The ECB move to withhold approval came hours before a scheduled vote in Greece’s parliament which approved pending reforms holding up creditor approval for the release of a tranche of bailout money.
“Possibly at the next meeting of the ECB we could see a lifting of the waiver,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told his cabinet in comments broadcast live on state TV.
At a news conference in Vienna, ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank had discussed the issue of reinstating the so-called ‘waiver’, but said the bank was not ready to act yet.
“We had a presentation, we had no decision. The Governing Council acknowledges the significant progress made in the last few months,” Draghi said.
“Once the prior actions (under the bailout agreement) are implemented, the Governing Council will take a decision leading to the reinstatement of the waiver,” Draghi said.
Greece and its lenders wrapped up the bulk of reforms needed to get bailout cash last week, but left some loose ends which must be tied up before Athens gets 10.3 billion euros of sub-tranches by September.
In a majority vote later on Thursday, Greece’s parliament adopt further pension reforms and set a timetable for the sale of a stake in the country’s power grid operator, conditions of its creditors.

The amendments voted by government
The amendments voted on Thursday were backed by the 153 lawmakers from the ruling Syriza party and its junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks, and involved changes in pension reform, public sector wages, the energy market and the sale of non-performing loans.
Among others, the bill frees up the sale by banks of soured loans backed by state guarantees. Athens wanted to exempt this category from a broader sale of banks’ bad loans, because it could end up creating a fiscal shortfall and require fresh measures. According to officials, if the guarantees exceed a threshold, creditors will exclude it from budget cuts.
Another amendment clarifies a two-year freeze on pay and promotions for some classes of state employees, including soldiers, police officers, judges and diplomats. The measure will go through unless Greece’s Defense Ministry presents equivalent measures by the end of September.
The bill also includes phasing out a special benefit for low-income pensions known as EKAS by 2020, starting on June 1 rather than retroactively from the beginning of the year, as well as selling a minority stake in the electricity transmission company ADMIE by the end of October.