8th May 2015

Little progress in the Greek issue

Greece has still not made sufficient progress in its negotiations with the creditor institutions. The sidelining of finance minister Varoufakis, with whom the institutions lost patience, did not help too much. It was reported, that the mood of the negotiators was slightly better, but progress is slow. The time plays against Greece. If a list of reforms is not adopted on 11 May, Greece may be unable to repay a huge upcoming sum to the IMF and the ECB. In the previous weeks, the Greek government used very unorthodox measures to keep the country running properly – regional and local authorities, as well as state enterprises, were tasked to send all the available cash to the central bank. Only that way had the government enough money to send monthly salaries and pensions. Despite all of the above-mentioned and despite some small progress over the past days, no final agreement is expected on 11 May. However, Commissioner Moscovici expects the meeting to be decisive (although not conclusive).

Meanwhile, the Greek government tried to blame the creditor institutions for the lack of progress. It described discords between the IMF and the EC as being responsible for the lack of overall progress in a leaked document. The problem is supposed to be different reform priorities of different institutions. The institutions reacted shortly with a brief statement that they share a common objective and continue to work together.

For more, click here, here and here.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic