Dombrovskis: Completing second review in early 2017 is possible if all sides are constructive
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The second review of Greece’s programme can be completed in early 2017 if all sides show “good will and cooperation”, European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview with the Greek newspaper “Kathimerini” published on Sunday.
Dombrovskis said the welfare and tax measures announced by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were “unnecessary and unhelpful” in that they did not follow the prescribed procedure for handling over-performance of budget targets under the MoU, “though we can understand the underlying concerns and aims which the Greek government wants to address with this.”
He appeared confident, however, that the current situation was far from a “dead end” and that it was possible to bridge the current differences between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the other institutions regarding the Greek programme: “If all sides are constructive in their efforts we could still have the second review by early 2017,” he said.
Asked when Greece could regain access to the markets, Dombrovskis noted that programme countries normally starting tapping markets before the programme ends.
“We couldn’t say what the exact timing would be right now, as this is something for the Greek authorities to decide. Normally this should begin in the programme timeframe. As you may remember, Greece was tapping the markets in 2014 with the assumption that the program would end in late 2014 or the beginning of 2015. Political developments unfortunately led elsewhere. The completion of the second review will be an important step to show that the programme is on track,” he said.