Negotiation talks between Ministry of Labour and the lenders for the social security are at final round, while many major issues, such as replacement rates and supplementary pensions, are still open. The Greek side, though, believes that an agreement will be reached before April 20.

“We are very close to reaching an agreement”, government sources claim.

At the same time, the technical team of the lenders has suddenly raised an issue regarding the age threshold on granting widow’s pension. For future widow’s pensions, Greece’s lenders seek to set a threshold at 57-58, as this is the case in most European countries. However, there will be a provision for those who have minor children and would probably be able to receive a pension for three years.

The topics that have ‘locked’, according to Labour Ministry, are the national pension at 384 euros for 20 years of insurance and 345.6 euros for 15 years of insurance and the replacement rates which will start at 0.77% for the first 15 years, up to 2% for 40 years of insurance.

Experts of social security estimate that the new pensions will be reduced by 20% compared to current pensions.