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This article was published on February 16, 2015 at 11:13.
The last change is the February 16, 2015 at 15:21.
BRUSSELS – The finance ministers of the euro zone will gather this afternoon here in Brussels to negotiate a yet another bailout for Greece, for five years struggling with a severe financial and economic crisis. The latest information raises fears a new stalemate, although the negative comments are part of the eve of the standoff negotiation. The clash between the Mediterranean country and European partners about the future of the Memorandum of adjustment, which expires later this month.
The new government led by Alexis Tsipras campaigned promising to end the Greeks the Memorandum and an easing of the measures of fiscal consolidation, while aware of having still need to be part of its creditors of fresh money in the coming months. On the other side, the European partners are ready to review the terms of the memorandum, but demand guarantees, if only because Greece has already received loans for 240 billion euro.
Many countries have said they would prefer an extension of the current program. Beyond the government’s position Tsipras, the clock is ticking. The memorandum expires later this month, and an extension requires in some states (Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia) a parliamentary vote. Without an agreement, the fear of many is that the country risks a liquidity crisis. This m orning, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he was “very skeptical” about the possibility of an agreement.
Speaking at a German radio this morning the minister, reiterated that Athens did not want to leave the eurozone, has also criticized the government Tsipras: “I’m sorry for the Greeks: they chose a government that currently is behaving in a rather irresponsible.” On the other side, more optimistic about the outcome of today’s discussion was the Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Pierre Moscovici said that today always want to participate in the Euro with the will to find an agreement.
The negotiation is marked by a double bluff. In the same way the creditors know that Greece pull the rope and even failure is not convenient, the government Tsipras knows that even European partners should lead the country out of the euro zone. The impact would be dramatic. “The exit of Greece from the monetary union would ensure that the option to leave the euro zone will become the subject of the election campaign in any consultation,” notes a diplomat.
Beyond debate on the future of the Memorandum, the parties must reach agreement on the future of Greek economic policy. On this front, common ground might be easier to find. Among other things, Greece asks fiscal targets less onerous (a primary budget surplus closer to 1% of GDP to 4% of GDP), a slowdown in privatization, and a review of the measures of economic liberalization.
This morning, talking to the television network France 2, the French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said: “The Greeks must say clearly that will pay off their debts to European taxpayers, but I do not think that necessarily what should be done with the conditions “decided in the past. The greek debt towards its partners has already been reduced in 2012, although it is always possible to further lengthen maturities and reduce interest rates again.
The game is complicated by a side by suspicion that lenders have towards a Greece which in the past has rigged the accounts, and on the other by a greek government’s attitude that many diplomats believe ideological and unscrupulous. On the greek, there is a growing impatience with international partners, in a country marked by high unemployment for the past five years, and where the economic policy program designed to creditors together does not seem to bear fruit.
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