The agreement reached on Friday’s Eurogroup has extended the hopes (and maybe the worries) of the country until the end of April. The next huge step for the government in order to avoid losing the tightrope it balances on is to get the “ok” by the Troika as well as from half a dozen national parliaments (including the Greek one), after tabling the new form with new proposed measures.
When Yanis Varoufakis returns to Athens on Saturday night, he and his team will put together the table with the new measures the government will be proposing for the duration of the transitional, “bridge” deal. For the first time, the government will be presenting fully detailed costs of the measures, as the partners requested.
The measures which will be sent, will probably take up the better part of 3 pages, will have to be verified by the ECB and the IMF and discussed by the Eurogroup teleconference on Tuesday. If it is accepted, Greece will not lose its protective “umbrella”, while the ECB will consider that the country is in a program, as such continuing to purchase Greek T-Bills in order to avoid a bankrun and fund ATMs.
Thus, the measures that the Greek government will take will be vital, since it has vowed not to create a black hole in the budget.
The measures will have to prove that for at least 4 months it will be able to cover (or have greater income) from the following:
- Debt settlements
- Combatting tax evasion and tax fraud
- Protecting the primary residence of citizens
- Rehiring 5,500 public employees
- A new real estate tax
- Privatization of airports
Even if Varoufakis’ new “catalogue” is confirmed by parliaments, money will not start rolling in until after April, and after the lenders have judged them able to stand up to the commitments undertaken by the government.
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