NEWS

House speaker keeps up pressure on Stournaras

House Speaker Zoe Constantopoulou has called Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras to appear before Parliament’s institutions committee on Friday even though the central bank chief informed her he would not be available.

Constantopoulou had first asked Stournaras to answer questions Monday but he wrote to her to point out that he is currently focused on monitoring the troubled Greek banking system. Stournaras told the parliamentary speaker that he would not be able to appear before July 6.

Nevertheless, Constantopoulou decided to summoned him this Friday so he could be questioned about the recent publication of the Bank of Greece’s monetary policy report, which raised concerns about a possible failure by the government to conclude talks with lenders.

Constantopoulou’s proposal was backed by SYRIZA, Independent Greeks and Golden Dawn MPs on the committee. However, one of the SYRIZA lawmakers, parliamentary spokesman Nikos Filis, backed a call by To Potami’s Spyros Lykoudis for Constantopoulou to agree a date with Stournaras for his appearance rather than inviting him on days he is not available.

“At the moment, our country, our prime minister, our institutional representatives are involved in the final phase of negotiations regarding much more serious things than the ones we are discussing here,” said the SYRIZA deputy.

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