ATHENS Greece and its creditors ended at dawn on Thursday a round of “difficult” negotiations in Brussels, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras inform Parliament on Friday of his country.
“A debate on the negotiation will be held in parliament (Friday) at 3:00 pm, at the initiative of the Prime Minister,” a Greek government source. No vote at the end of the debate is expected, said Thursday afternoon that source, AFP said.
This announcement comes less than 24 hours after Greece finished that round of negotiations in Brussels on delivery of vital financial aid to Athens in return for reforms.
In this round -in which both parties submitted a plan to reach an agree- participated Tsipras and the President of the European Commission (EC ), Jean-Claude Juncker. Despite the “constructive” atmosphere that reigned, were clear differences on some measures that Greece must take to consolidate public accounts.
“I’ve only slept three hours after having … a long and difficult negotiation with the Greek prime minister,” Juncker said on Thursday morning.
After that meeting, Tsipras He greeted the strengths and perspectives of commitment to the plan filed by creditors, but also listed the differences by offering reforms and budgetary measures proposed by their own government.
Project settings Hellenic
The Greek plan, 46 pages, according to the Greek press includes a reform of the Value Added Tax (VAT), the gradual unification of the pension systems, the elimination of early retirement and an acceleration of privatizations.
Regarding the plan by creditors, the Greek prime minister said “has many points that nobody can be considered as a basis for discussion”.
“We are talking about a country (Greece) these past five years suffered a financial catastrophe, with a contraction of the economy of 25% after five years of harsh austerity. Proposals involving a cut in the lowest pensions or an increase in VAT on electricity can not be the basis for a discussion, “he said.
Greece and its creditors they seem well have separated without agreement on the reforms demanded by members of Athens in the euro zone to guarantee the delivery of a final tranche of bailout the country, 7,200 million euros.
Time is short for Greece, which has virtually no liquidity . This Friday Athens must pay 300 million euros to the IMF, a first payment of a total of 1,600 million planned for this month amid fears of a Greek exit from the euro zone. It should also deal, internally, payment of salaries and pension officials.
The Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde said Thursday “confident” that Greece does not enter into cessation of debt payments with the agency and paid before Friday night that 300 million dollars.
According to Lagarde, the international creditors of Greece (the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank) “demonstrated (. ..) considerable flexibility “in their proposals to the authorities in Athens to resume negotiations.
No creditors plan
However, the general secretary of Athens Syriza, the radical left party in power, Tasos Koronakis reiterated on Thursday that the proposals of creditors “can not be a basis for an agreement,” told the Skai chain.
Greece’s creditors had outlined a proposal for reforms and adjustments, after a meeting Monday between Juncker, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, and Lagarde.
The European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, had admitted that the proposal was “challenging” but pointed to “guarantee the future of Greece in the euro zone “.
The day after the” difficult “round of negotiations in Brussels, the Athens stock exchange opened Thursday in low light (-3%) but limited-time losses (-2.22 %).
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