We must meet our obligations first, gov’t spokesman says
Greece will have to bring its deficit reduction program within target range before it can demand a renegotiation of its bailout agreement, the government spokesman said Monday.
?The issue of renegotiation is still open but there can be no unilateral concessions,? said Simos Kedikoglou, acknowledging that Greece is currently ?off target.?
Kedikoglou said that fulfilling the obligations under the EU-IMF deal would silence critics who would like to see the debt-laden nation exit the eurozone.
Representatives of Greece?s lenders said on Sunday that Athens had missed, or was off course, on 210 targets in its loan agreement and would need to rectify this before receiving any more money.
SYRIZA, the main left-wing opposition party, on Saturday attacked the conservative-led government for having reneged on pledges to seek a modification of the terms in Greece’s aid package.
?The renegotiation of the memorandum finished on the evening of June 17,? SYRIZA boss Alexis Tsipras said, referring to the day of the election that saw New Democracy win by a slim margin. ?Those who believed [ND chief Antonis Samaras] have been betrayed.?
In comments made to the Financial Times last week, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras appeared to suggest Greece had dropped its demand to ease the bailout terms. The government did not refute his statements.
