The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Government Vice President Yannis Dragasakis met with the Governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras on Tuesday and discussed coordinating their efforts so that economy may return to normality as soon as possible.
Reports suggest that the relations between the government and central bank have been fully restored since the replacement of Yannis Varoufakis. During the business lunch, which was hosted by the central banker, the three discussed the issues that need to be addressed so that the banks may resume normal operations and to see a return to growth as soon as possible.
As such it was underlined to address the final details related to the second package of prior actions and to complete the program review as soon as possible. The government also appears determined to carry out the pension reform, which is a major political thorn for the SYRIZA-led coalition.
Addressing the pension reform is a necessary condition for the debt settlement and for the ECB to include Greek bonds in its quantitative easing program. This in turn will facilitate Greece’s return to the markets, leading to a restoration of trust and improvement of the economic climate which will in turn hopefully attract investments.
Mr. Stournaras explained that the capital controls can be lifted within the first half of 2016, provided that all of the aforementioned efforts are carried out. The three agreed that after the bank recapitalization concludes, the government must take advantage of the improvement in Greece and attract investments through privatizations.
The government realizes that addressing the problematic bank portfolios will attract foreign investments and as such, the Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is cooperating with the Bank of Greece is order to finalize the plans on the management of non-performing loans.
