EU says fiscal targets, pensions, labor still to be agreed with Greece
Fiscal targets, pension and labor market reform and the size of the civil service are the key issues yet to be agreed between Greece and its international creditors in debt talks as Athens’ cash dries up, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
Commission Vice-President for the euro Valdis Dombrovskis said there had been some progress, notably on streamlining value added tax, but more reform proposals were urgently needed to clinch a deal before Greece runs out of money.
“There are still important areas to be discussed both in terms of fiscal targets and the (primary budget) surplus target and … issues related to pension reform, on labor markets, the civil service,” he told a news conference.
“But it’s also clear that we need to reach this deal very quickly because we are already almost a month behind the original schedule… We know the liquidity situation in Greece is quite tight. So they are all reasons to move forward as fast as possible,” Dombrovskis added. [Reuters]
