Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos in an interview with Kathimerini said that he is optimist that the government will overcome the obstacle of the negotiations with Greece’s lenders.

“In the negotiations there will be victories and defeats,” he said and he confirmed that the institutions are asking for additional measures for the period 2016-2018.

Regarding the social security system, Mr. Tsakalotos said: “There are distortions that must be corrected, specific cases that should be reviewed so that the social security system becomes sustainable in the medium term.”

As for the possible withdrawal of the IMF from the program, Tsakalotos underlined that “the issue is not a Greek problem”.

He also added that the IMF has very harsh neoliberal positions on the economic and social issues, therefore it would be difficult to support a left government, but it puts pressure on the Europeans for a favorable solution on the Greek debt.