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Greece lobbies creditors for swift loan payout
With Greek ministers dispatched across Europe on a whirlwind goodwill tour, top officials said they were making progress on finding a way to keep the nation afloat and in the eurozone
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ith Greek ministers dispatched across Europe on a whirlwind goodwill tour, top officials said they were making progress on finding a way to keep the nation afloat and in the eurozone.
A lasting deal to give Greece more cash, however, was not expected by May 11, when the eurozone finance ministers will meet next. In the meantime, Greece will have to scrounge for cash to make a 750 million euro repayment to the International Monetary Fund the following day.
"What I hope is that before May 11, in one week exactly, we will be able to have seen good progress in our discussion," said Pierre Moscovici, the EU's top financial official, after speaking with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in Brussels on Tuesday.
"That is the signal that everyone is waiting for, both in Greece and by its partners."
Varoufakis said the session "will confirm the great progress that has been achieved."
That is unlikely to be enough for European creditors to pay Greece the money it needs as its coffers run dry.
Germany, Greece's biggest European creditor, confirmed that talks were more constructive than in the past but the timing of a full deal was still uncertain.
"I'm rather skeptical that we'll manage it by Monday but I don't rule it out," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a group of reporters in Berlin.
As Varoufakis was shuttling from Athens to Paris and Brussels, Greek Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis was to meet in Frankfurt with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
After a cantankerous meeting with his eurozone colleagues last month, Varoufakis wanted to make a point during bilateral talks Tuesday.
"It was particularly important to lay out the positive moves the Greek government has made since February so there can be an agreement," he said after meeting his French counterpart Michel Sapin.
The international creditors are pushing the Greek government to deliver economic reforms and budget measures demanded before they unlock the remaining 7.2 billion euros (US$7.7 billion) in its bailout fund.
But the leftwing government wants to safeguard a core of campaign promises that were vital in its January election victory, all centering on relaxing the austerity measures that had been imposed on Greece to stave off its financial decline.
And time is pressing. Moscovici announced Tuesday that the EU now anticipates just 0.5 percent economic growth this year for Grreece, a massive 2 percentage points lower than forecast just three months ago.
It all reflects the uncertainty which has grown since the Syriza party won Greece's general election. Businesses and investors are wary of making long-term plans in a country whose economic future is seems clouded at best.
In its forecast, the Commission said the "positive momentum" that was building last year, when Greece's savage recession ended, has been stunted. (*****)
