Eurogroup: The negotiations start again in Athens

There is no political agreement yet

The Greek government seems that has managed to reach an agreement in today’s Eurogroup. According to a non paper from the Greek side that was released around six p.m., the representatives of the lenders will return to Greece to conclude the second evaluation of the Greek program.

The Eurogroup lasted just two hours. The framework of the agreement is that Greece has accepted to pass laws that will be effective after 2019 while according to Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s press conference, there will be changes in pensions, labor laws and regulations as well as the tax-free limit. He underlined that there is no political agreement yet as there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

The Eurogroup seems satisfied by the estimate of 2,7% growth for this year and 3% for next year. According to Mr. Moscovici, Greece can achieve a primary surplus of at least 2% for 2016.

As it was stated, the are still a lot of differences that need to be bridged. Mr Moscovici also added that the Commission is willing to help Greece’s efforts to improve the conditions of the labor market

The director of the ESM commented that the return of the institutions is good news. He also underscored that Greece has reduced its debt by 2bn Euros, as Athens returned to ESM the 2bn Euros from the sale of Finansbank by the National Bank of Greece, which indicates that the restructuring of the Greek banking system is on the right track.