Government meets Troika in Paris tomorrow

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis, most probably accompanied by Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Prime Minister associate Stavros Papastavrou, will travel to Paris tomorrow as the Troika never arranged for a meeting with the Greek Government in Athens as planned.

A successful assessment is key both for the release of loan payments to Greece and the completion of the European branch of Greece’s bailout program. Minister of Finance, Gikas Hardouvelis and the Troika held a few days ago a long tele-conference to discuss the progress made on issues that the Troika has demanded ahead of its next evaluation, but failed to reach an agreement.

Government officials were seeking ways to bridge a rift with the country’s international creditors over the weekend after the budget for 2015 was submitted to Parliament without the troika’s approval.

Sources, however, indicated that Athens would accept no more austerity measures and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was said to have telephoned some of his eurozone peers in a bid to seek a political solution.

On Friday, the Greek government tabled in parliament the 2015 draft budget which foresees a primary surplus of 3.0 percent of GDP (5.6 billion euros) and a growth rate of 2.9 percent. In 2014 the economy is expected to return to growth for the first time in six years, expanding at a rate of 0.6%.

According to the Finance Ministry it will be the first balanced budget with regards to the general government's deficit. In 2014, the primary surplus will surpass a goal of 1.5 percent of GDP, rising to 1.8 percent, while the economy is projected to return to positive growth rates for the first time after six years of contraction.