Deja vu as the Troika is back in town!

The Troika of Greece’s international creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund returned to the country to supervise the closure of the 2nd Greek bailout and move forth to the third. The first meeting between the group is to take place at the General Accounting Office of the Ministry of Finance on Thursday – just a day after a second wave of EU-dictated measures is voted on by Greek Parliament.

Even before the meeting, Troika representatives estimate that there is a three billion euro fiscal gap in Greek finances for 2015. Dreams for a primary surplus at 3.5% have dissipated and Athens is pushing for 0.75-0.80% whereas creditors are calling for 1%.

New measures worth 5 billion euros for the two-year period from 2015-2016 will not be enough to foot the bill after six months of missed targets and lost opportunities. Now, the challenges are greater than ever before thanks to the imposition of capital controls with projected growth estimations at 2.9% a lost dream in a recessionary slide that could be as large as 3.7-4%!