Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A Eurogroup meeting yesterday in Brussels concluded with Finance ministers agreeing to extend Greece’s fiscal adjustment period by two years, but deciding to postpone until next week final decisions on the disbursement of the expected Greek bailout tranche and the method to make the country’s debt sustainable.
In a statement issued, the Eurogroup "welcomes the significant progress made towards a full staff level agreement between Greece and the Troika on updated programme conditionality".
The statement refers to a wide range of "robust and necessary measures in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms, privatisation, automatic correction mechanisms and financial sector stabilization."
It also acknowledges the efforts made by the Greek citizens and welcomes the resolve of the Greek authorities to bring the programme back on track. At the same time, it calls on them "to implement the few remaining prior actions as a matter of urgency so as to allow for a swift conclusion of the review." Together with the review of the Greek adjustment programme, the Eurogroup will further discuss financing needs and debt sustainability, at an extraordinary meeting to be convened on November 20.- Greek Officials in Brussels
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is visiting Brussels today to attend an event organised by the Friends of Cohesion Group to discuss the 2014-2020 National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), along with other European prime ministers. While in Brussels, Samaras will hold meetings with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Moreover, Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras and Labour Minister Yiannis Vroutsis will also be in Brussels to meet with members of the European Parliament's committees of Finance and Labour, in order to discuss the current situation and economic crisis in Greece.
