Greece’s fiscal gap for 2015 likely to rise to 5 bln euros until Troika’s return

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections, the next Greek government will have to deal with many pressing issues

Greece’s fiscal gap for 2015 is likely to rise to five billion euros until the return of the troika of international lenders to the country, according to finance ministry officials.

The financial data shows that, with every day that goes by since the suspension of the negotiations, the economic situation in the country deteriorates.

This means talks between the next Greek government and creditors will have to begin from scratch, when both sides resume negotiations.

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming elections, the next Greek government will have to deal with the following pressing issues:

– It will have to seek ways to draw liquidity as the State’s cash reserves in the Bank of Greece are close to 2 billion euros.

– It will have to deal with the issue of the fiscal gap, which will be significantly larger than troika’s November estimate of 2-2.5 billion euros, given the fact that it has already been increased by at least 500 million euros, owed to court officials and uniformed policemen based on recent court decisions.

Moreover, a 4 billion revenue shortfall was recorded in December, 2 billion of which are attributed to the “relaxation” in tax collection, in view of the general elections.

This shortfall may even reach 3 billion in January-February because of ungovernability, according to officials estimates.