Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in an op-ed, published in "Project Syndicate" yesterday (25.5) writes that a common fallacy pervading world media coverage is that "Athens is unable or unwilling – or both – to implement an economic reform programme." The reality of the talks is very different, according to Varoufakis: "Our government is keen to implement a reform agenda that includes an independent tax agency; reasonable primary fiscal surpluses forever; a sensible and ambitious privatisation programme; genuine pension reform; liberalization of markets for goods and services, etc.

The sticking point in Greece's negotiations with its creditors, is not Athens' unwillingness to carry out economic reforms, but the creditors' insistence on even greater austerity, "an approach that would impede recovery, obstruct growth, worsen the debt-deflationary cycle, and, in the end, erode Greeks’ willingness and ability to see through the reform agenda that the country so desperately needs."

Varoufakis concludes by saying that "the only deal-breaker, is the creditors' insistence on even more austerity even at the expense of the reform agenda that our government is eager to pursue."