His government’s first “100 days” in office was the focus of leftist Greek PM Alexis Tsipras’ address Friday at an Economist conference in the Greek capital, with few references made on ongoing and crucial negotiations with institutional creditors.

Before he took the podium, a government “non-paper” cited the SYRIZA government’s bill for the so-called “humanitarian crisis”, a 100-instalment plan for tax arrears and maintaining its “red lines” in the face of lenders’ demands as its successes.

In addressing a conference organised by one of the world’s pre-eminent liberal media groups, Tsipras said an agreement between his cash-strapped government and lenders must be achieved.

“The agreement has to be concluded, no doubt about that, but it must be mutually beneficial,” he repeated, echoing a government leitmotif over the past few weeks.

The address was entitled, somewhat pretentiously, “A vision for a Europe in Change: 100 days in Government, Achievements and Prospects for Greece”.

In deciphering his rapid rise to power, Tsipras said austerity measures entailed in two bailout agreements were a “conscious transfer” of the recession’s repercussions on the backs of the middle-classes and of wage-earners.

“During the memoranda inequalities skyrocketed, unemployment tripled, pensions were dramatically slashed. The only ones who didn’t suffer were rich Greeks who quickly shipped their money abroad and continue to avoid taxes today.”

The 19th Economist Roundtable in Athens took place at a downtown Athens hotel. Practically half the Cabinet has appeared at the Economist conference’s podium this week.