Germany has delayed approving a 2.5 billion euro loan installment for Greece, claiming that the Greek government has not implemented all necessary ‘prior actions’. The issue emerged from the fact that – despite having being voted for and approved in Parliament – the bill of measures had not been published in the Government Gazette.
According to Reuters, the German Deputy Minister of Finances Steffen Kampeter informed the European Commission in writing on the prior actions. Mr. Kampeter also reported that he is awaiting the progress evaluation of Greece to be updated by Wednesday before sending off to the Bundestag.
The German minister explained that “to give the budget committee sufficient chance to form an opinion on this, the original deadline will be lengthened to Monday, July 29”. The IMF is also convening on the 29th of July to discuss paying out its part of the installment.
The Greek government on the other hand is not worried about this development, as it claims to have performed everything as planned, dubbing the remaining actions as “mostly procedural steps” which will be complete by Wednesday, when the Euroworking Group convenes for the 2.5 billion euros worth of aid.
The Ministry of Finances has confirmed that the bill with the Code of Tax Procedures that was submitted in Parliament on Tuesday and is expected to be voted next Thursday, make the necessary provisions for the remaining prior actions.
