Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that discussions between Greece and its creditors (EC, ECB, ESM and IMF) are underway in response to questions on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. He said that the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government’s proposals on social security were genuine, however he added that the “numbers on social security still don’t add up.”

He made it clear that a debt haircut is not something that can be discussed at present but would be a pledge for the future. For the first time, he pointed to a link between the maintenance of a primary surplus for Greece as a preconditioin for a haicut.