European officials unimpressed by government growth plan
Greece’s so-called “holistic” growth plan which will be presented at Thursday’s Euro Working Group is too vague and is less ambitious when it comes to issues such as privatizations and labor reforms, European officials have said.
The 75-page plan that outlines the government’s vision for the country in the post-bailout era after August will be submitted to the EWG by Deputy Economy Minister Giorgos Houliarakis.
The report, titled “Growth Strategy for the Future of Greece” was sent to institutions last Saturday for evaluation at a technical level.
The government’s aim is for the report to get the thumbs up from the institutions so that it is approved by finance ministers at the next Eurogroup on April 27 in Sofia.
Apart from demanding more specifics, the institutions also want Greece to submit an analytical time frame listing when specific measures will be implemented and how these will be monitored.
The plan is based on five basic pillars: fiscal sustainability, sustainable growth, structural terms and prerequisites for growth, fair growth without exclusions and the financing of growth.
A European official also said that the Greek proposal puts more emphasis on measures that have already been implemented rather than on post-bailout commitments.
Thursday’s Euroworking group will also examine the progress of the prior actions Greece must implement (only 12 of the 88 have been so far enforced) as well as the issue of the country’s post-bailout supervision and debt relief measures.
