In light of the recent developments in Cyprus, the Ministry of Finances is preparing for the new round of talks with the troika. The troika representatives are expected in Athens in early April. Should everything go to plan, the March installment (which was politically approved in December 2012) will be granted at the Euro Working Group in early April.
In the meantime, the Minister of Finances Giannis Stournaras estimates that the Greece can and will collect the first trimester installment (worth 6 billion euros) at the Eurogroup that will take place in mid April in Ireland. A ministry executive claimed to Vima that “we will not return from Ireland without the installment”.
The troika representatives were unable to complete their March report, since there were issues with the layoffs in the public sector, the collection of real estate tax via DEI and apparent deviations from implementing the budget.
Unfinished business
In order to secure the March installment, the troika will have to approve the reforms in government structures, evaluations of staff and the mobility/redundancy program of the Ministry of Administrative Reform, as well as the number of “necessary layoffs” by the end of 2014.
The Deputy Minister of Finances G. Mavraganis must also find a solution to the emergency levy on real estate property, in order to convince the troika about the plan to introduce a uniform real estate property tax. Rumors suggest the new levy will be up to 20% less than the current one.
The fear of new measures
The main fear in the ministries is the deviation of income and insurance contributions, which might require new measures. The deviations are estimated to be in the range of 600 million euros by the end of the year (210 million euros in the first two months). The troika will have a better idea in April and could well demand the activation of the “automatic adjustment” clause of the third memorandum.
