Troika issues cautious statement
The troika finally ended its visit to Athens following the announcement of its conclusions on Tuesday, but Germany appears to discern some ?dark points? in them.
The representatives of Greece?s international creditors completed their monitoring of the course of the country?s economy and proceeded to make their recommendations for the future, with their report seen as slightly positive.
The decision regarding the disbursement of the sixth tranche of Greece?s bailout rests with the eurozone leaders and the International Monetary Fund. If they do approve the release of 8-billion-euro installment, the troika sees this happening in ?early November.?
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos suggested that the troika?s statement was ?balanced, practical and positive.? He added that the next step ?is not just the disbursement of the sixth tranche, but the completion and application of the decisions of July 21 and the start of the implementation of the new program.?
The minister also suggested that before the disbursement of the installment ?or even before the eurozone summit on October 23,? everything ?has to fall into place,? effectively meaning the passing of the new measures through Parliament.
However, a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said yesterday that ?the troika?s statement has some bright and dark points,? and in this context ?we shall wait to see the report first, analyze it and then decide what will happen with the next tranche.? He did however express his satisfaction that ?the troika?s job in Greece was completed.?
The main conclusions included in the troika statement are that the recession will be deeper than forecast and a rebound is not expected before 2013, and that the deficit target will not be reached this year ?partly because of a further drop in the gross domestic product, but also because of slippages in the implementation of some of the agreed measures.? It expects the deficit to end the year at between 8.6 and 9.1 percent.
It also said the extra measures announced will suffice to take the deficit down to 14.9 billion euros in 2012, but more measures will be required for 2013 and 2014. It adds that revenues from privatizations this year will be ?lower than expected,? with sources lowering the 2011 target from 5 billion euros to 2 billion.
