The conflicting information about the progress of negotiations between the Greek government and the creditor representatives foreshadow an extension of the uncertainty after Thursday’s Eurogroup. The meeting between Tsipras and Merkel may have been constructive, but at the same time there are many points where there is no convergence of opinion yet.
Indicative of the problems is the revelation that the creditor representatives arrange meetings amongst themselves, to discuss the progress and prospects of negotiations, without the presence of the Greek side. There were discussions and contacts without the presence of Greek representatives both at the IMF summit in Washington and the Eurogroup in Latvia.
According to the optimistic interpretation given by the Ministry of Finances, these contacts are for he creditors to bridge the differences amongst each other. It remains to be seen which differences are more important; those between the creditors, or those between the creditors and Greece.
The fact is that the Greek government appears to be in a rush to close the deal, since the liquidity program is now asphyxiating. It is also a fact that significant responsibilities lie with us for the two months which were wasted in the negotiations, since the government officers overstressed the importance of the political negotiation, ignoring or neglecting the financial and technical details.
It is also certain that as long as the negotiations are extended, the wasted time will create even greater pressure on the Greek economy, than our creditors. The financial asphyxiation is not only exacerbating the existing major problems in the public and private sector, it is also weakening our bargaining position. Whether it suits the government or not and before we reach extreme situations, the government must decide that there is no other solution to the country’s funding problem, beyond an agreement with Europe.
TO VIMA
