Pierre Moscovici

The European Commission will examine whether Greece has the fiscal leeway to implement the measures included in its 2019 draft budget, European Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Monday.

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.

Pension cuts due to come into effect in January remain a sore point in talks between Greece and its international creditors, with both sides apparently unwilling to compromise amid speculation that the deadlock could trigger early elections. 

The government's aim to suspend pension cuts due to come into effect in January is likely to fuel friction in the coming weeks, Kathimerini understands, as the International Monetary Fund is adamant that the reductions should be made even if they are not required for Greece to meet budget targets.

The Greek economy is now in a position to create surpluses and continue to have growth in 2019, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici said on Thursday.

"Greece has implemented 450 reforms that were necessary. I believe that Greece is now in a position to create surpluses and return to growth in 2019," Moscovici told France Info radio.

No sooner had Greece completed its third and final bailout program than European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici announced a new round of talks between the Greek government and its lenders beginning on September 10 in Athens, on the country's draft budget for 2019.

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici is sticking to his positive take on the economic situation in Greece, claiming in an interview with Austrian magazine Profil that there is scope for more social justice in Greece.

Eurozone countries are set to disburse a final 15 billion euro ($17.5 billion) bailout loan to Greece in August, Eurogroup chairman Mario Centeno said on Thursday.

Centeno told a news conference that the last tranche had been ratified by 18 eurozone countries, with a final decision to be taken as soon as national procedures were concluded in Germany.

Diplomats, analysts and officials from international institutions visiting Greece have a hard time understanding and assessing what in their eyes appears to be a bizarre political reality.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday cut its forecasts for the euro zone's economic growth this year, citing among the top causes for its revision trade tensions with the United States and rising oil prices which push the bloc's inflation higher.