Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis returns from his lightning trip to Washington D.C. with empty hands but more wisdom. The US administration and European partners are urging an immediate solution to put an end to the uncertainty in Greece and avoid a “Grexident” in the eurozone.
Varoufakis’ meetings with the Undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury, Nathan Sheets, and Deputy Assistant to the President, Caroline Atkinson, on matters of international finances and national security moved along the same lines as those of International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde. The government did not get a delay to the IMF payment due on April 9 or the others due in June.
Sources in the ministry said that, contrary to international press reports, Lagarde did not ask for Greece to take specific measures such as a cut in early retirement or an increase in VAT. The same sources clarified that the Greek side had requested the meeting.
1st – The 448-mln-euro loan due to the IMF will be paid as planned on April 9.
2nd – Technical discussions between the Brussels Group and Athens Group have suddenly been upgraded.
The government agreed to not only work with technical supervisors and international creditors, but also create a third list of reforms made up of supplementary measures worth 900 mln euros. This lift the yield of the reforms list from 6.1 bln euros to 7 bln euros. A VAT hike on Mykonos and Santorini could cover 300 mln euros of the 900-mln-euro total — if ever-present tax evasion is stemmed.
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