Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Eurozone finance ministers back Greek reform plans. (Ministers from 19 states announce their approval of list of reforms)

Eurozone finance ministers have announced that they have approved a list of reforms submitted by Greece in exchange for a four-month extension to its international bailout.
The 19 ministers decided in a teleconference on Tuesday that "they consider this list of measures to be sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point," they said in a statement.

"We therefore agreed to proceed with the national procedures with a view to reaching the final decision on the extension by up to four months."
The European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - formerly known as the "troika" of creditors and now dubbed the "institutions" - will further review and refine the list up until the end of April.

"We call on the Greek authorities to further develop and broaden the list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, in close co-ordination with the institutions in order to allow for a speedy and successful conclusion of the review," the statement added.
Without the financial lifeline now available over the coming few months, Greece faced the possibility of going bankrupt, imposing capital controls and ditching the euro.
In its list of reforms, the Greek government says it will combat tax evasion and corruption, reduce bureaucracy, review public spending, modernise the pension system, reform the judicial system and address rising poverty through measures that have "no fiscal effect".
Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos, reporting from Athens, said the Eurogroup have given the nod to this list but they do specify that its still has to be deepened, broadened and has to be more specific on how these goals are going to be achieved.

"The things that have been announced in this list are broadly popular here. People do want a smaller government, they do want a less expensive goverment, they do want social security that is solvant and they do want a tax collection authority that is transparent and effectitve but also fair," Psaropoulos said.

The reform plans were sent ahead of Monday's deadline, and were met with a favourable response in the markets. The main stock market in Athens was up around nine percent in afternoon trading.

The proposal to extend Greece's bailout, which ends at the end of the month, now goes to some member nations for approval.
  [aljazeera.com and agencies]
23/2/15
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4 comments:

  1. L'Europe a dit oui à la Grèce, mais...

    L'Eurogroupe a approuvé mardi en début d'après-midi la liste des réformes soumises par la Grèce ce lundi. L'extension du programme d'aide financière à la Grèce est sur les rails.

    Les ministres des Finances de la zone euro ont approuvé mardi, lors d'une conférence téléphonique, la liste des réformes présentée lundi par le gouvernement d'Alexis Tsipras. Cette approbation ouvre la voie aux procédures devant certains parlements nationaux, qui doivent approuver d'ici samedi l'extension du programme d'aide financière à la Grèce. Le ministre belge des Finances Johan Van Overtveldt parle d'un "premier pas dans la bonne direction"............................http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/europe/l-europe-a-dit-oui-a-la-grece-mais--703172.aspx
    24/2/15

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dutch Finance Minister and president of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Tuesday that Greece’s exit from the Eurozone was out of the question...

    “I very much agree with [European Central Bank President] Mario Draghi and [President of the European Commission] Jean-Claude Juncker, that Grexit is simply not on the table, it’s not discussed, I will not even prepare any thoughts about it,” Dijsselbloem said addressing the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

    The Eurogroup chief added that his target was to keep the Eurozone intact, despite any difficulties. “We’ll encounter a lot of problems, yet we’ll work together and we’ll stick together.”..................http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150224/1018693779.html#ixzz3SgHe0ZYk
    24/2/15

    ReplyDelete
  3. Accord sur l'aide à la Grèce: "un bon compromis" selon Hollande...

    Le plan de réformes présenté par Athènes constitue un "bon compromis", a déclaré mardi François Hollande, ajoutant que "la Grèce serait amenée dans les prochaines semaines à faire la vérification qu'elle respecte bien ses engagements".

    Le président français François Hollande a qualifié de "bon compromis" le plan de réformes conçu par le gouvernement grec et approuvé par l'Eurogroupe, ont annoncé mardi les médias internationaux.

    "Je pense que c'est un bon compromis, à la fois respectueux de ce qu'a exprimé le peuple grec et respectueux des règles de l'Union européenne", a déclaré le Président de la République à Paris lors d'une conférence de presse conjointe avec le premier ministre italien Matteo Renzi...................http://fr.sputniknews.com/economie/20150224/1014878917.html#ixzz3SgdxbPcx
    24/2/15

    ReplyDelete
  4. Grecia, l'Eurogruppo: piano è buon inizio. Draghi: ok, ma ci sono lacune. Fmi: più impegni ...

    «La lista, sufficientemente completa, è un buon punto di partenza per completare la revisione e quindi diamo il via libera alle procedure nazionali per raggiungere una decisione finale sull'estensione di 4 mesi dell'attuale accordo»: così l'Eurogruppo dà il via libera e alla Grecia chiedendole di «sviluppare le misure».

    Un giudizio che ricalca quello espresso dalla Commissione Ue che ha sollineato come la lista di riforme presentata dal governo greco fosse «sufficientemente completa per essere un buon punto di partenza per una conclusione positiva della revisione del programma». A dirlo i commissari Dombrovskis e Moscovici in una lettera al presidente dell'Eurogruppo, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. La Commissione è «incoraggiata dall'impegno a combattere l'evasione e la corruzione» e aspetta di lavorare con la nuova amministrazione per tradurre in «chiare politiche quelli che al momento sembrano impegni generali».

    Merkel. Anche la cancelliera tedesca Angela Merkel si è espressa a favore del prolungamento di 4 mesi del programma internazionale di aiuti alla Grecia. Il governo ellenico del premier Alexis Tsipras è tornato passo dopo passo nella realtà, avrebbe detto Merkel durante un incontro dei deputati dell'Unione di Cdu-Csu, secondo quanto riferito da fonti parlamentari all'agenzia Apa.

    Draghi. La lettera di Atene all'Eurogruppo «è un valido punto di partenza» ma dato «il tempo molto limitato disponibile» non è stato possibile ad Atene «elaborare proposte concrete e impegni» su crescita, finanza pubblica e stabilità finanziaria. Lo scrive il presidente della Bce Mario draghi all'Eurogruppo..........................http://economia.ilmessaggero.it/economia_e_finanza/grecia_atene_piano_riforme_ue/1200754.shtml
    24/2/15

    ReplyDelete

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