Unclear when international lenders will return to Athens
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
International lenders could return to Greece within the first 10 days of March to complete a bailout review, although yesterday’s Euroworking group meeting did not conclude with good news for Greece.
Lenders could return to Greece within the first 10 days of March to complete a bailout review, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday.
“We should have a clearer picture of when they will return next Monday (March 7),” Tsipras said. “My assessment is that they will return in the first 10 days of March,” he stated during an interview with Star TV Channel.
But differences among the lenders on an estimated fiscal shortfall by 2018, which may force the left-led government to cut pensions despite its pre-election promises, have delayed the EU/IMF mission chiefs return, casting a cloud on Tsipras’ plans.
Athens puts the fiscal gap at 1 percent of economic output while EU lenders estimate it will be around 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees a gap of at least 4.5 percent of GDP, according to sources.
“There must be agreement among lenders so that we can progress,” Tsipras said calling on the IMF to “return to realism”.
Pressed on whether the assessment would be concluded in March, Tsipras answered: “I think Easter will bring a resurrection of the economy.”
