The government has accepted the demands of Greece’s lenders and agreed not only to the 5.4 billion euros which have already been voted, but also to the mechanism of automatic cuts in state expenditure of 3.6 billion euros. However, it seems that no agreement will be reached soon, since the lenders are still examining the mechanism of automatic cuts asking for greater cuts, while another Eurgroup meeting is likely to be needed (possibly on May 29, or in June) in order to conclude to any results on the measures, program review, tranche disbursement and debt.

Up to now, though, the only certain thing is the package of measures that government will submit to the Parliament for vote. On Wednesday, the second omnibus bill that includes selling NPLs, privatizations and new taxes of 1.8 billion euros will be tabled, without, though, including any provision for the mechanism of automatic cuts. According to sources, the provisions on the contingency mechanism will be tabled as an amendment in parliament, after the submission of the omnibus bill containing the government’s prior actions.