Creditors consider 2-month extension of Greek bailout program

April 19, 2018
Written by E.Tsiliopoulos

The decision on the matters of whether the tax-free threshold will be put into effect from 2019 or 2020 and if a series of positive countermeasures would be implemented by the Greek government was referred by the institutions in Washington to the meeting between Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and the Troika in May.

In its Fiscal Monitor report released on Wednesday evening, the IMF forecasts a 2.9% GDP primary surplus for the current year as opposed to its initial projection of 3.5%, a discrepancy equal to 1.1 billion euros.

This revised outlook fuelled fears that there could be a 2-month extension of the memorandum with the implementation of a new package of austerity measures, apart from those the Greek government have already agreed to for 2019.

The Greek government responded to the news by leaking a non-paper attacking Greek media. The non-paper said among other things “the IMF estimate of a surplus of 2.9% for 2018 is revised upwards from the 2.2% target, which was approved by the Fund last summer”.

Sources say that the “supplementary memorandum” is clearly outlined in the scheduled talks between the Greek authorities and the institutions at the Hilton hotel that will resume in a few days.

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