Economic Affairs

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni is arriving in Athens on Thursday for a series of meetings with key officials in the context of the European Semester, the EU's cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination among member states.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Monday dismissed officials who have expressed concern over the government's handout policy ahead of the elections - including the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling - as "austerity supporters," although concerns are also being raised by others much closer to home, at the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

The negotiations for the new borrowers' protection framework voted into law on Friday were long and hard, with the Greek side thinking it had secured an agreement three times before being proven wrong.

Greece has not made enough progress in reforms agreed last year to get a 750 million euro ($854.4 million) bonus from the euro zone, but could still complete the changes before the bloc's finance ministers discuss the issue on March 11, the European Commission said on Wednesday

Athens needs to implement the reforms it has committed itself to and act wisely concerning the social policy measures it has planned, according to the message European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici conveyed on Wednesday to Athens, practically confirming that Brussels is monitoring the handout talk and the delays in the prior actions required for the second post-program asse

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet with European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici at 2.45 p.m. at Maximos Mansion, his office said.

Moscovici is expected to convey to Athens the growing concern in Brussels, as Greece's creditors see no progress in the implementation of the country's post-bailout commitments.

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici is on Wednesday expected to convey to Athens the growing concern in Brussels, as Greece's creditors see no progress in the implementation of the country's post-bailout commitments.

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has written a letter to the European Union's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on the issue of the government's nomination of former Supreme Court chief Vassiliki Thanou for the director's chair of the Hellenic Competition Commission.

The eurozone finance ministers have formally approved the Greek budget for 2019, waving it through Monday's Eurogroup meeting.

With the government readying the amendment that cancels the pension cuts for 2019, attention now shifts to the particularly important second European Commission report on Greece in February, as that is directly linked to debt easing measures.

The government remains a long way from getting the green light to cancel the implementation planned pension cuts in January, as an informal meeting in Germany indicated on Wednesday.