The German financial review Handelsblatt has reported that the troika has threatened to suspend the provision of liquidity towards the Greek government, unless an agreement is made for the completion of the final review.
The “exclusive” report cites sources in Brussels, Berlin and Athens, according to which the European Central Bank will suspend the liquidity it offers to Greek banks. This would put the Greek banks in a very difficult situation, as the ECB will not accept state bonds as collateral for the bank refinancing.
With the Eurogroup wanting to complete the negotiations by the Christmas holidays, the Handelsblatt report notes that the pressure on Greece is mounting. It also pointed out that Athens is reacting to the pressure and suspects that the troika is stalling negotiations by constantly posing new demands.
Athens received a similar “ultimatum” from the troika in July 2012, when the back-to-back elections jeopardized the negotiations at the time, which involved a 12-billion-euro loan. The European Commission for Economic and Monetary Affairs at the time Olli Rehn had disputed the rumors.
Nevertheless, following the comments made by ECB chief Mario Draghi on Thursday, this scenario appears to be credible. Mr. Draghi commented that he determined to carry out massive bond purchases, even without a unanimous decision from the ECB’s governing council.
