ECB

Greece and its international lenders (EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) reached the 85-bln-euro bailout agreement to cover the next three years after 23 hours of talks that ran through the night on Tuesday.

The Greek government and its creditors agreed on the primary budget targets for Greece for 2015-2018 said government sources early on Tuesday morning. The meeting was completed after 17 hours since it began at 10.30 a.m. on Monday with just a brief break to update the cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government’s main goal at the moment is to reach an agreement with lenders (EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) so as to clear the political scene and start its new three-year bailout program along with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s development package worth 35 bln euros.

European Commission deputy spokeswoman Mina Andreeva expressed satisfaction over the progress made in negotiations between Greece and the four institutions from the EC, ECB, ESM and IMF.

Athens talks with the four institutions (EC, ECB, ESM and IMF) are at their most crucial stage. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and Economy Minister George Stathakis concluded negotiations with Greece’s quartet of creditors on Wednesday afternoon, however there are still a number of differences, such as the issue of the minimum wage.

The Greek government leaked a non-paper late Wednesday to the media upon the completion of economic policy council cabinet meeting saying an agreement with the creditors before August 20 was ‘absolutely feasible’. Some government officials are more optimistic saying a deal could be reached as soon as the upcoming weekend.

Greece and its creditors (EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) will focus on issues concerning corruption and justice on Monday. Government sources said that the issues are to be discussed at a technical staff level.

Pressure is mounting on the Greek government, as representatives of the Quartet- ECB, IMF, EC and ESM- are demanding for another round of prior actions. More specifically, even before formal negotiations start, the tough technical team of the institutions want the Greek government to pass a bill including the abolition of early pensions within the first ten day of August.

A growing file of law suits – three in total – against former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is in Greek Parliament. The accusations concern his Plan B – a plan for a parallel payments system based on Greece’s tax register.

The EU approved a short-term bridge loan of EUR 7.16 B to Greece, which will allow the country to meet debt repayments to the IMF and ECB, while the agreement on a third bailout is still being ratified.

European Commission Vice-President for the Euro Valdis Dombrovskis announced that all 28 EU member states backed the agreement on a bridge loan, daily Kathimerini reports.