Following the failure to strike an agreement with auditors in Paris on Wednesday on the terms of the release of the last aid tranche in December, the conservative- led government pointed to a short delay of the exit from the EU/IMF bailout initially scheduled for year end.
"The goal is to have the last installment disbursed before December 31. If for technical reasons some procedures cannot be completed, there could be an extension," Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Thursday, after a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis to discuss the developments.
Venizelos stressed that the extension could take a few days or weeks and Athens in no case will discuss a new memorandum with international creditors which in return would require the implementation of more austerity and reform measures. Greece does not need new loans, he underlined.
Five years after the start of the debt crisis which brought the country at the brink of financial collapse, Greece wants to put a closure on the bailout deals struck since May 2010 which helped keep the ailing economy afloat with multi-billion euro rescue loans in exchange of harsh cuts on salaries, pensions, tax hikes and structural reforms.
Greece exited a six-year recession this year, according to official data, but Greek society still suffers the consequences and can not bear more burdens, protesters who took to the streets of Athens on Thursday a few blocks further from the Prime Minister's office said.
"It is either them or us," read banners waved by demonstrators in front of the parliament during the rally organized by the two umbrella labor unions of public and private sector employees (ADEDY and GSEE) and Left opposition parties.
The mobilization was called in protest of the 2015 draft budget which is due to be put to vote in the parliament on December 7 and foresees further tax increases and spending cuts in the public sector, including mass layoffs.
Among the about 15,000 protestors who participated in the march, according to police estimates, was also main opposition Radical Left SYRIZA party chief Alexis Tsipras who called again for immediate early general elections to change course.
Wednesday's outcome in Paris' talks fuelled scenarios of snap polls within weeks or a few months. The government dismissed them, noting that the dialogue with auditors continues.
According to government sources, the key point of disagreement between the two sides is IMF's insistence on the extent of the 2015 fiscal gap and the necessity to cover it with fresh austerity and reform measures.
For Athens there is no need of further tough policies, since the targets will be achieved through the implementation of the measures already included in the draft budget and the government's overall strategy to boost growth to reverse the crisis' effects.
Demonstrators on the streets of Athens on Thursday were skeptical. "We are here again today to demonstrate our opposition to the policies which transformed a financial crisis into a social and humanitarian crisis," ADEDY's President Stavros Koutsioubelis said, pointing to soaring unemployment and poverty rates.
The march ended in front of the parliament, as public services from schools to hospitals were shut down or operating on emergency personnel, banks were closed and mass transport services were disrupted. Ships remained docked at ports, trains stopped and flights were grounded.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
27/11/14
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