Troika to stay in Athens until end of next week

According to a top official of the Ministry of Finance, the troika must be first satisfied that the prerequisites are met for the March loan disbursement, amounting to 2.8 billion euros.

The same source said that Finance Minister Yannis

Stournaras is expected to have a third meeting with the troika on Sunday, but there may be more meetings with the government’s financial staff.

Stournaras had a meeting at the ministry on late Thursday afternoon with the vice-president of the European Parliament Othmar Karas, whom he told that Greece is currently in its sixth year of recession and has paid dearly for the economic crisis by tough fiscal stability measures, as well as large wage and pension reductions and tax increases. Stournaras also placed emphasis on European assistance in investments to exit the crisis.amna

Karas spoke of a needed balance between public debt and growth, as well as between employment and social cohesion. He said he believed that Europe is still facing problems, but there are enough funds to deal with youth unemployment and boost competitiveness in Europe.amna

Source: AMNA