The government officers were informing everyone on Monday evening that the technical negotiations with the troika – which is now called Brussels Group, but occasionally convenes in Paris – are progressing.

They spoke of an agreement regarding the primary surplus for 2015, as well as disagreement on the estimations of the growth rate.

This suggests that there are serious differences on the financial gap and extent of measures needed to cover it.

There were also disagreements on the necessity to intervene in the pension system and carrying out changes in the job market.

As for the privatizations, there were also doubts as to the extent as well as the use of the funds that would derive from the sales.

Despite all this though, the government sources estimated that the negotiations with the creditors would eventually result in an agreement before the deadlines and before a credit event became unavoidable.

In one respect the government is aware of the dangers and in no case does it want to go beyond the 11 May deadline, because it knows that it will run out of money around that time.

However internationally, the atmosphere is not that optimistic. The foreigners are more or less anticipating terrible things for the Greek economy, as evident by the escalating selling off of Greek titles.

All private financial institutions do not believe that there is room for an agreement and even if a default is avoided at present, it will come back again stronger at the end of June, when the Greek economy, its readjustment and the refinancing of the debt will be addressed as a whole.

The Minister of Finances is also doing all that he can in order to maintain the uncertainty.

When he was in the USA he managed to reignite discussion with his threat of the Greek crisis spreading like a contagion, in case of a Grexit. His meetings with legal experts on debt restructuring matter were also taken into consideration.

Just like the meeting he recently had in Frankfurt with American investor George Soros, with whom he discussed “strategic matters”.

Truly, what sort of strategic matter can a Greek Minister of Finances discuss with one of the most distinguished “wolves” of the international markets?

And how can he divulge information to a person who has been proven to represent international speculation?

Many also wonder whether the Prime Minister is aware of the Finance Minister’s move and if he supports them.

In any case, the time to come to an agreement is quickly running out. More so, when the negotiations are carried out in a climate of absolute suspicion, which some partners could easily consider irresponsible.

At some point though the verbose Minister of Finances will be called to provide explanations in Parliament about what he did and did not do in this current, long transition period.

The hope is that in the mean time he will not have caused irreparable damage to the country and its people.

Antonis Karakousis