Greece says still awaiting EU/IMF response on proposal
Greece said on Wednesday its international creditors had failed to respond to its latest proposal on breaking an impasse over a cash-for-reforms deal, despite a plethora of negative comments in private from EU officials.
As negotiations on a deal to prevent Athens from defaulting on its debts reach a critical stage, a French source said no meeting between the leaders of Germany, France and Greece was scheduled for Wednesday.
This appeared to contradict a Greek government schedule issued on Tuesday that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of a conference in Brussels.
A government official in Athens said the European Commission had yet to respond officially to the Greek proposal on budget reforms and the question of the country’s debt mountain.
“The Greek government has submitted its proposal to the institutions, along with two supplementary documents with specific alternatives on the fiscal gap and the sustainability of Greek debt,” the official said in a statement.
“These proposals were submitted to EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici late on Monday evening. So far, there has been no comment or response to the Greek representation in Brussels.”
Privately, some officials in Brussels have dismissed the proposal as insufficient for fellow euro zone states to accept. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, already questioned on Tuesday whether the Tsipras meeting with Merkel and Hollande would go ahead.
In Paris, the French source said: “No meeting is planned at this stage – we’ll see what happens when we get there,” referring to the leaders’ expected arrival in Brussels later on Wednesday.
Greece’s European Union and IMF creditors are offering more cash as long as the leftist-led government accepts more austerity and reforms which they believe are essential if the country is to stand on its own feet.
Athens must repay 1.6 billion euros to the IMF by the end of this month or it will default, putting its future in the euro zone in doubt. Its 240 billion euro bailout agreement with the creditors is also due to expire then. [Reuters]
