Troika returns amid open issues

Following the meeting, Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras (photo : Spain's Economy Minister Luis de Guindos listens to Greece's Finance Minister ) said that quite a few fronts remained open in negotiations with Troika,  but said significant progress had also been made. He referred to a wide spectrum of prior actions involved in the troika's fourth review report, mentioning that for 2013 there were 896 prior actions, of which 79 percent had been accomplished.

A government official indicated on Tuesday that the troika wants part of  a primary surplus to go toward growth-boosting measures and another part to go toward paying off state debts to suppliers.

Samaras has repeatedly vowed to give 70 percent of a primary surplus for 2013, which Athens estimates at more than 1.5 billion euros, to vulnerable social groups. But the troika appears to have other plans. According to a Finance Ministry official, the sum that will be distributed will be the amount by which Greece overshoots its 2014 primary surplus target of 2.9 billion euros.

The agreement expected by Sunday will focus on structural issues as described in the OECD toolkit, such as relate for example to the products and services markets.

In fiscal issues, the Finance minister said that the taxation on behalf of third parties and the reduction by 3.9 percent of insurance contributions remained unresolved.

In the banking sector, he said, the Greek side got what it wanted, as the troika recognized that the responsibility for carrying out stress tests lies with the Bank of Greece and the European Central Bank (ECB). "We are not downgrading the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," Stournaras said of one of the two lenders of Greece, along with the ECB and European Commission, "but it is an issue that is linked more with internal troika issues than with Greece."

Asked about the approval of the next loan tranche, the Greek minister was optimistic, he said, pending agreement by the weekend with the troika. "By May, we will have the money," he asserted, adding that the disbursed tranche will fully cover all of the country's financial needs.

In regards with Greece's exit to the markets, it will be on a trial basis and for small amounts; he added, he is not aware of objections to this by the IMF. As long as there is agreement with the troika and Eurostat, the EU's statistics branch, ratifies the primary surplus, the Eurogroup will initiate discussion on the fiscal gap and the viability of the Greek debt, based on the November 2012 decision, he noted.