Lower surplus targets to top 2020 agenda

Apart from the election of a new president and changes to the electoral law, the reduction of the primary surplus targets that Greece must achieve is expected to top the government's agenda in 2020.

The need to reduce country's surplus targets from the current 3.5 percent level as of 2021 was formally raised by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the last European Union summit. He also discussed the issue during his meeting with new European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who is said to be sympathetic to Greece's position.

According to sources, Athens' request for lower surpluses will be formally submitted to the Eurogroup sometime in early April and certainly before the end of May, by which time the government will have drafted its new medium-term fiscal policy program.

Greece's optimal target is to reduce the primary surpluses it must achieve in...

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