The Eurogroup meeting to be held on Friday in Milan is to discuss progress made in implementation of the Greek program following meetings held in Paris between Greek ministers and the troika of Greece’s international creditors. European officials feel that Greece still has a long way to go.
Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis will be called to answer questions on a number of important issues when meeting with his European counterparts. Discussion is expected to focus on the 5.5-bln-euro installment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Commission (EC). Troika representatives from the EC, IMF and European Central Bank (ECB) are expected to inform the Eurogroup on results of the talks in Paris and are to state that Athens has covered just half of its obligations to fulfil requirements. On his part, Hardouvelis will state that the actual amount is closer to 65% with a commitment of 75% by the end of September.