Second review must be concluded on Greece before market access, says Stournaras
Greece must wait for a second review of its economic progress by its international lenders before tapping financial markets, Central Bank Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Tuesday.
"There is a distance from this (market access)…It cannot happen before the second review is concluded," Stournaras told Greek lawmakers.
"We have to expedite the second review," he added.
Greece signed up to a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros in mid-2015, contingent on a string of economic reforms.
On Monday, eurozone finance ministers gave a positive review of the most recent reforms, but divided up the latest tranche of aid to Athens pending further submission of data by Greece. The second review is expected to start in mid-October.
Stournaras’s comments were made to a parliamentary investigative committee probing the funding of political parties and media companies by Greek lenders.
The country reached the brink of bankrupty which was averted thanks to efforts made by Greek governments managing the country from 2010 to the present, Stournaras said, adding that the principal cause of the crisis was not the financial sector but the country’s budgetary policy from 2008 to 2010.
[Reuters, Kathimerini]
