EU officials not as optimistic as Greece over imminent deal on review

While the Greek government is trying to cultivate a sense of optimism regarding an imminent deal with its creditors, aiming for an April 22 final date, EU officials do not seem to share the same sentiment The latest statements by Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem that there was no definite date for the Greek review comes on the heels of his statements Thursday that the main priority was to ‘avoid a new crisis in Greece’. ‘Nobody has set a compelling deadline for completing the review of the Greek program’, he said. Dijsselbloem did express hope that the review would finish soon, while he admitted that Greece had an uphill task of measures to implement. He went on to underline the progress that had been achieved over the past period and he said he did not predict a new crisis. Meanwhile, according to a European official quoted by German agency MNI ‘the EU continued to say that a deal is possible in April, but the chances are very, very slim. I see the review being completed in July’.