The Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem sent a clear message to Athens, stressing that the Greek government must fulfill the 12 prior actions it has been tasked with in order to begin any talks regarding the funding gap and debt sustainability in September. The chief of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling also stressed that Greece will not collect the 2 billion euros tranche unless it implements the prior actions.
The Minister of Finances Gikas Hardouvelis informed Mr. Dijsselbloem that he would update the Eurogroup on the developments regarding the prior action by the end of the month and reassured him that the selection process for a new General Secretary of Public Revenue will be “open and transparent”.
The head of the IMF Christine Lagarde focused on the review of Greek banks in autumn, which will determine whether the remaining funds from the bank recapitalization can be used cover the funding in part of in full. The Eurogroup head intervened and stressed that the review can only begin if Greece completes the prior actions and its commitments from the fourth review.
Accord to the outgoing European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, the rate of growth will greatly determine whether the Greek debt is sustainable or not and to what extent assistance will be required. Mr. Rehn expressed his concern at the Greek government’s delays in implementing “serious economic reforms”.
