The rift between the EU+IMF institutions, the ‘Quartet’ and the Greek government remains, as Greece’s lenders reject a number of measures proposed by the Greek state, while the Quartet demands harsher fiscal cuts. After a 2-hour meeting with Greek Minister of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity Georgios Katrougalos Employment Minister the lenders demanded that the national pension be slashed to 384 Euros per month, while they opposed a proposal tabled by the Minister allowing for insurance cover discounts to farmers, professionals and scientists. The Quartet ‘grilled’ the Greek delegation during the talks at a downtown Athens hotel regarding the method of calculation the Greek government uses for the pension entitlements maturing in 2018. Minister Katrougalos noted that the aim of the Greek government was to leave the issues of the supplementary pensions and a possible raise in employers’ pension contributions last on the agenda of talks. The negotiations, which are expected to last for 10 days, will also focus on technical issues to be discussed tomorrow, Thursday. March 10. Katrougalos underlined that a cut in main pensions was not on the table, adding that the main fiscal goal was to save pension funds commensurate to 1 per cent of GDP in 2016. Earlier Wednesday, the Quartet had met with Greek finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and decided to lay out the time schedule for their upcoming meetings, which are expected to last till the end of next week. All eyes will be on the representative of the IMF who will decide on the pressing matter of a Greek debt relief.