Greece crisis: Negotiations with creditors are to begin next week – STERN

The negotiations between Greece and the international creditors about new grants are to begin early next week, according to Athens. Emissary of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would arrive in Athens at the weekend, was reported on Saturday from government circles in Athens. Initial discussions might therefore be taken on Tuesday at expert level. From the EU side, this was not immediately confirmed.

The heads of delegations would expect by Thursday in Athens, said an informant from the Greek Ministry of Finance. According to Athens be part of the EU Commission Declan Costello, for the IMF Delia Velculescu, for the ECB Rasmus Rüffer and Nicola Giammarioli the euro rescue fund ESM in the talks in Athens. The unpopular in Greece creditors “troika” was more than a year no longer in the country.

Time is running out for Greece

The European Commission called first no precise timetable for the negotiations. A spokesman said only that the negotiators of the donors would travel “in the coming days” to Athens
For the danger of state bankruptcy Greece time is pressing:. According to the international creditors, the country needs over the next three years, between 82 and 86 billion euros. On August 20, Athens has nearly 3.2 billion euros to the European Central Bank (ECB) to repay, in September a further 1.5 billion euros to the IMF are due. At the latest by mid-August, therefore, must be completed the negotiations, because the deputies have to agree in Greece and other euro countries an agreement yet.

The new tool of the euro countries is expected to be about 50 billion euros difficult. . The rest will come from the IMF and from Greece through accelerated privatization

In an article published on Friday letter to the IMF chief Christine Lagarde Finance Euclid Tsakalotos requested meanwhile a new loan over three years – a Another important step towards the opening of negotiations on new long-term financial support for the highly indebted country. Formally, the IMF loan will run until 2016, to apply for a new reason was not really necessary. Apparently, it was Athens with the letter observers According to a gesture of good will.
Had

reservations IMF

Athens because of the harsh demands for reform of the IMF always reservations about Fund contribution to future support expressed. However, the recent Euro-special summit on July 13, the Greek Government failed mainly to Germany with their desires, no longer to involve the IMF on a third loan package.

Einig are located and the IMF led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his left Syriza party government in a bid to get a debt relief for Greece. The European statistics agency Eurostat gave Athens debt burden last with about 170 percent of gross domestic product at.

The Greek government had already accepted at the end of the negotiations in Brussels of reduction obligations in return for new loans in the tens of billions scope , On the night of Monday and in the Thursday, Parliament passed two packages of measures belonging to the demanded by the donors Preconditions for a third loan program.