On Sunday the Minister of Finances Gikas Hardouvelis is said to have sent the troika a list of clarifications and arguments in favor of the 2015 budget, along with a series of alternative measures, capable of curbing the doubts of creditors and partners regarding the performance of fiscal management next year.

Sources report that the Minister of Finances is attempting to placate the troika expert concerns of a 2.5 billion euros budget gap in 2015 and to create the conditions to finalize the review this year. He is also attempting to do so by ruling out any changes in wages and pensions.

According to the same sources, the troika has received Mr. Hardouvelis’ package of clarifications and measures and is expected to respond on Monday.

For the Minister of Finances it is of utmost importance to close the review without any further income measures. Mr. Hardouvelis does not want to further exacerbate the political circumstances, which has already suffered.

Following the secessionist tendencies of the Papandreou team and the creeping doubts from the conservative faction, the potential imposition of new austerity measures on pensions and wages would rock the government and create the conditions of an economic deadlock.

Greece absolutely needs to complete the review on time, which will determine whether Greece will collect 3.8 billion euros this year and a further 14 billion euros in 2015 and 2016 from the International Monetary Fund. If the review is not finalized then the Greek state’s cash reserves will last until February.

After that point the public money literally dries out. The combination of “empty funds” and the political uncertainty that will dominate at the time, as we will have begun the election procedures for a new President, can result in some rather hard circumstances for the country.

It is unfortunate that the government undermined the technical and financial aspect of the negotiations with the troika and on the contrary overestimated the political negotiations.

As it turns out the conditions in Berlin and Europe are unfavorable for Greece.

The influence of Schäuble on the Chancellery and Brussels is proving to be immense and will not allow any political concessions, upon which Mr. Samaras was banking.

In this respect, everything depends on the arguments and efficiency of the package that Mr. Hardouvelis sent the troika. We should know on Monday.

If here is no convergence than things may urn our bad.

In any case time is running against us.

Once again Greece will be forced to agree to a deal, which under the current circumstance is most certainly to be unbalanced.

Antonis Karakousis