The Eurogroup meeting in Brussels yesterday (9.11) recognized satisfactory progress and cooperation with Greece in terms of the implementation of the first batch of ‘prior actions’ of the Greek economic programme, but postponed the decision to release an initial installment of 2 billion euros of the loan tranche for next week, as expected. 

At a press conference following the meeting, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed his satisfaction for the "progress and work done by the Greek authorities", echoed by the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici, who noted that the great majority of the ‘prior actions’ demanded for the disbursement of the loan tranche have been completed.

Dijsselbloem also referred to two key issues remaining unresolved - the level of protection of Greek homeowners for nonperforming loans and some residual actions on banking governance – noting that by the start of next week, the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG) will review the implementation of the first batch of prior actions, as well as the reforms related to the management of Greek banks in order to finalize the recapitalization process. 

Greek government sources confirmed the positive climate at the Eurogroup, expecting that the 2-billion-euro loan installment will be disbursed in the coming days, along with the 10 billion euros for the recapitalization of the country’s banks.

OECD report sees Greek economy recovery next year

Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released yesterday (9.11) its six-month Economic Outlook report, according to which it is expected that Greece’s economy will start recovering in the second half of 2016, as confidence will rise and exports will maintain their dynamism.

Greece’s GDP will contract by 1.4 pct in 2015 and 1.2 pct in 2016, returning to positive growth rates in 2017 (2.1 pct), as structural reforms and a strong external demand will boost investments and job creation.