Troika to meet with Ministers of Growth, Justice and Labor

A series of meetings between the troika and government ministers are scheduled for Monday in order to address a number of pressing demands regarding national insurance, employment and loans. The Ministers of Growth Nikos Dendias and Justice Charalambos Athanasiou are scheduled to meet the troika at 15:30, followed by the Minister of Labor Yannis Vroutsis at 17:30.

The greatest issue in the current round of negotiations is national insurance, with the creditors directly asking for pension cuts, despite the government’s reluctance. Beyond pensions though, the troika has demanded changes in the public sector (new payroll and 5,500 dismissals), employment relations and red loans.

The troika has yet against pointed out considerable problems in the coalition government’s privatization plans, as the government has only managed to generate 500 million euros worth of revenue, falling short of the 1.5 billion euros which it had set as a goal. The final meetings between troika and government officials are scheduled for Wednesday evening, with the tripartite leaving Athens on Thursday in order to return after the publication of the bank stress test results on the 26^th of October.

The Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis will head to Washington for the IMF’s Annual Summit planned for the 10^th to 12^th of October. There, Mr. Hardouvelis is scheduled to meet with IMF director Christine Lagarde, to discuss the Greek debt. The ESM chief Klaus Regling will also be present. The Minister of Finances will be accompanied by the head of the Economic Advisors Council Christodoulos Stefanadis and other associates. The Greek mission will then attend the Eurogroup in Brussels on the 13^th of October.