Troika-Greece talks: Three days of no progress

The Greek government has focused on secondary issuers in an effort to avoid a debacle in the new series of talks, while the conflicting positions between Greece and its European creditors on the results of the February 20 EuroGroup results, as well as the counter-measures promised by the Greek government has also caused delays.

During the first three days the tough and unyielding stance the IMF has adopted via its representative Delia Velculescu has made it apparent that it is determined to set the tone in the negotiations and not budge until its conditions are met. The diastase between the IMF and Greece could not be further apart. This was confirmed both by reports of a verbal spat between Velculescu and Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, as well as reports that the IMF believed no substantive progress had been made in the first three days of talks.