Government awaits troika’s response to compromise measures

The Greek government has sent troika a series of measures aimed at closing the fifth assessment review

Sources from the European Commission state that the troika of Greece’s international creditors will visit Greece on Wednesday following the Greek government’s agreement to introducing a series of compromise measures. The Greek government hasn’t officially confirmed this visit, however Greece’s socialist PASOK Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that talks with the country’s inspectors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were close to being concluded.

“We are exactly one step before the conclusion of very tough and painful, double negotiation,” he said.

The government is in a difficult position considering how initially conservative New Democracy Prime Minister Antonis Samaras didn’t even want to consider a precautionary credit line as a step for Greece’s exit from the bailout. Now, the government is doing all it can to ensure the fifth assessment review of the Greek economy is completed with agreement to increasing VAT tax rates for hotels, changes to the retirement age, unified pay structures for newcomers to the civil service and numerous other discussions including the possibility of more changes to the debt settlement plan in 100 installments.

Athens is expecting an official response from the troika on whether the proposals sent over the weekend will be accepted. The proposals were sent as part of the Greek government’s range of measured aimed at overcoming a 2015 fiscal gap that the troika estimates for Greece.