18 Nov 2013
Troika continues talks with Greek officials
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - According to a Greek finance ministry spokesman, the EU, ECB and IMF representatives have wrapped up the bailout talks with Greek officials for today. He assured that all pending issues have been discussed and that the 2014 budget would be presented on Thursday.
The aim of the negotiations was to reach an agreement on the 2014 budget cuts, which would allow for the release of the next tranche of aid for the indebted country.
Finance minister Yannis Stournaras tried to convince the international lenders that the recently uncovered 1.5 billion euro budget shortfall for next year does not mean that further austerity measures should be implemented. The Troika inspectors on the other hand believed that the gap cannot be covered with savings coming only from structural reforms.
The international creditors pushed for more wage and pension cuts, which could prove to be too much of a burden for the Greeks and could lead to an aggravation of social unrest.
The aim of the negotiations was to reach an agreement on the 2014 budget cuts, which would allow for the release of the next tranche of aid for the indebted country.
Finance minister Yannis Stournaras tried to convince the international lenders that the recently uncovered 1.5 billion euro budget shortfall for next year does not mean that further austerity measures should be implemented. The Troika inspectors on the other hand believed that the gap cannot be covered with savings coming only from structural reforms.
The international creditors pushed for more wage and pension cuts, which could prove to be too much of a burden for the Greeks and could lead to an aggravation of social unrest.