Foreign inspectors evaluate Greece progress
EU and IMF inspectors will launch on Wednesday an evaluation of Greece’s progress in meeting its fiscal targets and executing the midterm economic program passed in Parliament earlier this summer.
Greece has undertaken a pledge to deliver 50 billion euros in proceeds from a massive and complicated state selloff by 2015, including 5 billion this year. But progress so far leaves a lot to be desired.
Senior representatives from Greece’s foreign lenders are expected in Athens by mid August.
Euro zone leaders earlier this month agreed to easier lending terms for Greece. It was agreed that private investors will swap Greek bonds for longer maturities at lower interest rates.
Procedures for a voluntary swap, which the finance ministry has said will start in August, should be complete the following month.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister George Papandreou was on Wednesday set to hold a meeting with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos ? who has just returned from Washington — Giorgos Provopoulos, the governor of the Bank of Greece, and Vassilis Rapanos, head of the Hellenic Bank Association.
