The head of Troika in Greece, Mr Paul Thomsen, gave an interview at Greek TV channel NERIT and expressed the belief that Greece will not need a third aid package. He also added that in order to reduce tax rates, which are high, the government has to meet some requirements.

“I agree with the government and the Prime Minister that the tax rates in some areas are very high and that it should be an objective to reduce them, but this should be done without jeopardizing the achievement of the primary surplus at 4.5%,” Mr Thomsen said adding that the key to achieve this is to improve tax administration: “If one can make sure that everyone pays taxes, that the rich people pay taxes, not only wager earners, if the tax base is broaden, then we can discuss reducing tax rates,”.

Regarding the debt, Mr Thomsen said: “Debt relief can be done without a new haircut. It can be done by lowering interest rates or other forms of transfers, or in other ways that will be discussed in the coming months,”

“The funding gap can be covered, a third aid package is not necessary. It is too early to know if European partners will have to give more money,” said Paul Thomsen

Meanwhile, the Head of IMF in Greece requested the dismissal of the public sector employees with poor performance.

“We are talking about the promotion of reforms in public administration and ensuring that one can dismiss employees who have poor performance,” he said.

He also expressed his concern about the fact that Greek exports are really low, despite the fact that competitiveness has been improved. “If we do not see an improvement in exports, the recovery will be limited,” he said.

When he was asked if the banking system will face emergencies Mr Thomsen said that the IMF is concerned about the very high level of non-performing loans. “I want to emphasize that I do not see any immediate danger, citizens should not be afraid of what will happen with their deposits,”.