The EU has given Greece until next Monday to present a list of reforms which, if found acceptable, would unlock the final tranche of aid funds promised under a multibillion-euro bailout, a German newspaper reported yesterday.
Eurogroup ministers have set the deadline in order to have sufficient time to examine Athens’ proposal ahead of a meeting on April 24, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, quoting unnamed representatives in the negotiations.
Negotiators from Greece and the EU have struggled to make headway over the final payout of 7.2 billion euros (US$7.6 billion), as Athens has refused to consider cutting civil servants’ pensions.
Despite the discord between Athens and the EU over Greece’s proposed reforms, Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis on Thursday said he was very confident that a deal could be done by April 24.
A government source in Athens also said that telephone contacts were made on Saturday with Greece’s creditors, and that they were held “in a climate of cooperation” and aimed at defining the agenda for the coming days.
However, eurozone sources told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that eurozone officials were shocked at Greece’s failure to outline plans for structural reforms at Thursday’s talks in Brussels, adding that the Greek representative behaved like a “taxi driver.”
The sources said eurozone officials were disappointed and shocked at Athens’ lack of movement in its plans, and in particular its reluctance to talk about cutting civil servants’ pensions.
The paper said that at the meeting the Greek representative just asked where the money was “like a taxi driver,” according to sources, and insisted his country would soon be bankrupt.
The sources said Greece’s creditors do not believe this is the case and that it would be a domestic political issue if Athens is unable to fully pay salaries and pensions.
The paper also said that German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble, who has taken a tough line toward Greece in bailout talks, would have to get the German Bundestag lower house of parliament to vote on any fundamental changes to the reform program.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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