Greek authorities, institutions resume negotiations on Sunday: They are trying to complete the second review
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Following a short break in the middle of the day, the Greek government and the heads of the institutions’ mission in Athens resumed negotiations on completing the second review on Sunday afternoon.
Talks resumed on all issues that are still outstanding, the most important of which are fiscal policy, pensions, labour law, privatisations and bad loans. It was not made clear whether the talks are expected to end tonight or early on Monday, or whether they will continue in the coming days.
The two sides had resumed talks at 10:30 on Sunday morning, while their talks on Saturday ran until after midnight. In a statement made shortly after 1:00, in the early hours of Sunday morning, a senior government official reported that the negotiation was “generally going well” and that “none of the institutions has come with the intention of causing a delay.”
During the talks on Sunday, which focused on the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to deregulate Sunday opening for shops, among others, finance ministry sources stressed that the issue was still under negotiation and would be settled when there was overall agreement on the second review.
The talks on Saturday had focused on privatisations, with agreement still pending on one issues relating to privatisations and one issue relating to the new privatisations fund. The two sides agreed fully on issues regarding taxation, with a compromised reached on the writing off of older cases given that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts emphasis on inspections in new cases.
There was also a discussion on the 3rd OECD toolkit, where there was agreement, while one issue relating to fiscal policy is still pending.