Greece and its EU-IMF creditors could reach a hard won bailout deal in the coming days, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president for the euro, said Tuesday after Athens submitted a new reform plan. "I would say that reaching the agreement within coming days is possible, it's possible to reach a staff level agreement which then can be (approved) by the Eurogroup (of finance ministers)," Dombrovskis told reporters when asked about the proposals.
"But this really requires political will, first and foremost by the Greek side. So less tactical manoeuvring and more work on substance," the former Latvian prime minister added. Dombrovskis highlighted Greece's primary surplus targets - the difference between government revenue and spending - and changes to its sales tax system as key points that were "very important" to agree on.
Cash-strapped Greece submitted the new proposals earlier Tuesday, nearly a week after rejecting as "absurd" a blueprint for reforms put forward by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. Athens's creditors are demanding the reforms in return for the release of the remaining 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in Greece's EU-IMF bailout package, which is due to expire on June 30. Greece needs the money to service a series of huge debt repayments, or risk defaulting and possibly crashing out of the eurozone.
Comments
Comments are closed.