Greece to present reforms by Monday, says gov’t spokesman [Update]
Greece said it will present a package of reforms to its euro zone partners by next Monday in hope of unlocking aid to help it deal with a cash crunch and avoid default.
“It will be done at the latest by Monday,” government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told Mega TV.
Greece’s left-wing government and its eurozone creditors agreed last week that Athens would come up with a list of its own reforms, which must achieve a similar budget impact to measures agreed by the previous conservative-led administration.
Athens is rushing to get the list ready before state coffers run empty, which is expected to happen in a few weeks without more aid.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday but Sakellaridis said the two only discussed the outline of the reforms without going into depth.
“I believe points of convergence were found,” he said.
The reforms are a deeply politically sensitive issue for Tsipras, who stormed to power pledging to end austerity policies before being forced to accept an extension to a hated bailout program under the threat of a banking collapse.
Sakellaridis said the package of reforms Athens will propose would not contain recessionary measures but structural changes.
If Greece’s creditors agree that the substitute reforms can achieve an impact equivalent to previously agreed measures, Athens would get more loans from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, averting bankruptcy.
[Reuters]
