ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras intends to discuss but make no official request to spread out spending cuts when he meets his German and French counterparts, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The Ta Nea daily quoted Greek government sources saying that there is no specific proposal for an extension of the adjustment programme at the moment and that the time is not yet right for an official call.
The business daily Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Samaras would ask during his planned meetings next week with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande that the spending cuts Greece is supposed to implement in 2013 and 2014 be spread out over four years.
But according to Ta Nea, the prime minister will aim for "a discussion, on a political level, of the issue of a two-year extension to the fiscal adjustment" but "will not convey an official request on behalf of the government."
Samaras is to meet Merkel in Berlin next Friday and Hollande in Paris on Saturday, right after his scheduled meeting with head of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker in Athens on Wednesday.
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin on Wednesday that for the German government "the agreed memorandum of understanding which states what the Greek obligations are remains the basis of all aid decisions."
Greece's government is currently trying to find spending cuts amounting to 11.5 billion euros ($14 billion) which are to be implemented in 2013 and 2014 as part of the country's EU-IMF loan agreements.
Those cuts should be agreed before the EU and IMF release the next installment of bailout loans of nearly 31.5 billion euros, which is now unlikely before October.
indiatimes.com
The Ta Nea daily quoted Greek government sources saying that there is no specific proposal for an extension of the adjustment programme at the moment and that the time is not yet right for an official call.
The business daily Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Samaras would ask during his planned meetings next week with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande that the spending cuts Greece is supposed to implement in 2013 and 2014 be spread out over four years.
But according to Ta Nea, the prime minister will aim for "a discussion, on a political level, of the issue of a two-year extension to the fiscal adjustment" but "will not convey an official request on behalf of the government."
Samaras is to meet Merkel in Berlin next Friday and Hollande in Paris on Saturday, right after his scheduled meeting with head of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker in Athens on Wednesday.
Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin on Wednesday that for the German government "the agreed memorandum of understanding which states what the Greek obligations are remains the basis of all aid decisions."
Greece's government is currently trying to find spending cuts amounting to 11.5 billion euros ($14 billion) which are to be implemented in 2013 and 2014 as part of the country's EU-IMF loan agreements.
Those cuts should be agreed before the EU and IMF release the next installment of bailout loans of nearly 31.5 billion euros, which is now unlikely before October.
indiatimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment