The Greek Finance Ministry is awaiting a signal by the creditors for a teleconference over the weekend that would pave the way for the institutions and the Greek side to approve a staff level agreement on the course of the second review of the Greek bailout program. The document will be presented to the EuroWorking Group, which will convene on Monday, and is expected to highlight the progress made so far in the negotiations. Although it is not clear whether the conference will actually be held, it appears certain that the final document discussed during Monday’s EuroWorking Group will make reference to “great progress” in the talks between Greece and the Troika and will leave the possibility of labour reforms, privatisations and dealing with indebted businesses open.

Despite their differences, both Athens and the institutions (especially the European Commission) hope to keep up an ostensible appearance of consent, which is why Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici is visiting Greece on Monday, in light of the December 5 crucial EuroGroup meeting. All parties involved in the negotiations are attempting to strike a delicate balance between reaching a final deal on the critical medium-term adjustment program, the Greek debt relief and the primary surplus targets, without appearing to have backed down from their respective positions. The Greek government, with the backing of the European Commission, wishes to avoid making any further concessions and hopes push back decisions on labour reforms and privatisations, in the event it fails to receive a clear decision on a debt restructuring. On their part, the institutions -European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and the ESM-, although agreeing on the 2017 budget submitted by the Greek government, are more interested in Athens committing to a swift implementation of structural reforms in order to complete the second review. The IMF is asking for the Greek government to announce the new economic austerity measures for the period between 2018 and 2020 in its medium-term adjustment program in advance, in order to participate in the bailout program, wherein lies the conundrum for Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos. Legislating more austerity measures would be tantamount to admitting it had to achieve a 3.5% GDP surplus, which is exactly what the Greek government hoped to avoid by receiving a debt relief and the subsequent participation of the IMF in the bailout program, which insists that a realistic surplus target is 1.5%.