“Dueling proposals” was the theme of Tuesday’s back-and-forth leaks by Greece’s leftist government and its international creditors, with the latter appearing ready to table a draft text of a deal.

Athens and the radical leftists now in power are desperate to unblock 7.2 billion euros left over from the second bailout package as state coffers are supposedly dwindling while bank deposits continue to drop in Greek banks.
On its part, the SYRIZA government told the press that its own proposal would be sent to creditors, what Reuters said was a pre-emptive bid to prevent Athens from being served up an ultimatum.

With no final deal nearing completion Friday looms large as an IMF payment is due. Failure to meeting the payment could be construed as some form of default, with unforeseeable repercussions. Other payments are due in June.
“We have submitted a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis. A realistic plan, whose acceptance by the institutions, our lenders and our partners in Europe will mark the end of the scenario of divisions in Europe,” Tsipras was quoted as saying.

Nevertheless, a euro area source told Reuters that the Greek proposal was insufficient and was not officially tabled.
As expected, the SYRIZA government isn’t budging on creditors’ demands for supplementary pension cuts, labor sector liberalization, primary budget surplus targets and even state sector rehirings.

On his part, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem noted that “There are signs that Greece and Tsipras are motivated to achieve a breakthrough … We aren’t far enough along and time is pressing … The bottom line is that we are not going to meet them halfway. The package as a whole must make sense in budgetary terms,” he said.

Ιn short, the Greek proposal reportedly touches on the prospect of re-examining early pensions, without however, affecting individuals who have already established early retirement rights.
The leftist government is also unwilling to consider cuts to supplementary pensions if the funds dolling out the payments record deficits in their budgets, or to continue a further liberalization in the labor sector.
No prospect of a further privatization of the state-run and mostly state-owned power company (PPC) is considered.
Conversely, the Tsipras government says it is committed to raising the lower VAT rate on the islands — even amid the ongoing tourism season.
In a bid to … “pressure” creditors, Minister of State Nikos Pappas, considered by many as Alexis Tsipras closest confidant, told reporters late on Monday that Greece has “submitted a complete, unified and solid text of proposals,” while he called on those who want a solution to “contribute now, whoever doesn’t want a solution should remain silent”.