US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that the Greek debt should be soon made sustainable, during his meeting with Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Thursday in Athens. In a press conference, Lew stressed that Greece has achieved notable progress and implemented major reforms, which had revived the confidence of the international creditors to the country.

‘I look at the progress estimates and I understand how challenging it was for Greece to reform the pension system, as it is also the case for non-performing loans. It is very important that Greece implements the measures agreed for the Privatisation Fund as well as the reforms in the markets and services. These will mark a positive cycle for the economy and the Europeans can start the discussion on the Greek debt soon’, he underscored.

On his part, Tsakalotos had earlier pointed out that both recognised the significance of the May 24 Eurogroup agreement as it was decided that the Greek debt was not sustainable and ‘now we are discussing the technical details, and not whether a debt relief is needed’.

Tsakalotos continued: ‘We also discussed several issues regarding the Greek programme, the difficulties and the opportunities of the Greek economy, the impact of the Brexit and the developments in our neighbouring country’.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to  meet with Lew, at Maximos Mansion, at 2 pm.