Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras expressed satisfaction with the positive comments on Greece's performance by the country’s partners, following the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, on October 8.

He noted, however, that this progress has not been made common knowledge in all the euro area countries, as some still retain false impressions regarding the situation in the country.

Stournaras said that 84% of the austerity measures being drafted for the period 2013-4 concern spending cuts and 16% increased revenues, adding that primary expenditure in Greece is the lowest in Europe, equivalent to 40% of GDP. He also stressed that a front-loaded distribution of the new measures, with 70% taken in 2013, as demanded by the troika, is excessive and would reverse the benefits from an extension of the fiscal adjustment period. Stournaras further added that the funding gap resulting from the extension was estimated at €12 billion and could be covered without recourse to additional funding from the eurozone member countries.

Greece raised € 1,300 million during an auction of 26-week T-Bills conducted yesterday. According to an announcement issued by the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA), total bids reached € 1,600 million and the amount finally accepted was € 1,300 million. The interest rate was 4.46%, slightly less than the 4.54 % reached during the previous auction, on September 4.

The International Monetary Fund presented on October 9, in Tokyo, the latest edition of its Fiscal Monitor Report which takes stock on the progress that countries have made in terms of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction since 2010.

With regards to Greece, the report says that "a deeper-than-expected recession and slippages in the implementation of fiscal measures will once again complicate attainment of the ambitious deficit reduction targets."