The meeting between the Greek government’s economic staff and the troika representatives on the 5th review of the Greek economy started earlier on Tuesday, at around 11.40 am. The Greek government officials than participate in the meeting include Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis meeting, alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and the prime minister’s advisors Chysanthos Lazaridis and Stavros Papastavrou.

The officials representing Greece’s international lenders are Rishi Goyal, from the International Monetary Fund and Declan Costello from the European Commission. According to information, Klaus Masuch from ECB is expected to arrive in the Greek capital.

Greek authorities have claimed that Athens could end austerity early. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had indicated that Greece would not need a new bailout package during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week.

Community sources say that the negotiations are due to be tough with many issues being discussed, such as tax breaks, structural changes to the public sector and the markets, bank stress tests, etc.