EU says exchange of documents with Greece a ‘good sign’
The EU hailed as a positive step Tuesday the exchange of documents between Greece and its international creditors, as Greece said it had submitted a reform plan to win vital bailout cash.
“Many documents are being exchanged between the institutions and the Greek authorities… The fact that documents are being exchanged is a good sign,” European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said.
But the spokeswoman warned that it was too early to talk of any deal between Greece and the EU and IMF that would unlock 7.2 billion euros and help Athens make a critical repayment on Friday.
“We’re not there yet,” Breidthardt said.
The European Commission refused to directly confirm that it had received a reform plan from Greece, which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Athens had submitted on Monday night.
“It’s not possible to just comment on one single one,” said another Commission spokeswoman, Mina Andreeva.
A Greek government source told AFP that a 46-page draft agreement had been submitted on Monday, but declined to go into further detail.
News of the Greek plan came after a meeting in Berlin on Monday night between the chiefs of the IMF and the European Central Bank along with the leaders of Germany, France and the head of the European Commission.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told French radio earlier Monday that there had been “serious progress” in the Greek debt talks but that there was still work to be done.
Greece is staring at a Friday deadline to repay over 300 million euros ($328 million) it owes to the IMF. Overall it needs to repay the global lender some 1.6 billion euros this month, funds it currently lacks.
[AFP]
