The European Commission is believed to be supportive to the reduction of Greece’s primary surpluses, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said during a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is Athens on Thursday.
“I believe that the European Commission is certainly supportive of the start of this discussion. The decision will be taken by the Eurogroup, but as long as Greece maintains this momentum in reforms – you have very positive economic figures overall – and I believe that with this momentum the discussion on these goals can be reopened and the European Commission will be supportive,” Gentiloni said.
Mitsotakis reiterated the fanincial progress made since New Democracy took the power.
“I think we have made great progress in the last seven months, which is reflected in the capital markets and the wider economic climate. We are a government that is fully committed to an ambitious reform agenda and we have been fully credible in meeting the budgetary targets, informing our interlocutors that we will meet the fiscal targets for 2019 and 2020,” he said.
He added that “during the year, soon and without delay, we expect that a discussion will begin on reducing primary surplus targets as of 2021. I believe this is perfectly reasonable and I am pleased that you have acknowledged this and we are ready to begin this discussion.”
Following the meeting with Gentiloni, the Prime Minister tweeted:
Η ελληνική οικονομία έχει σημειώσει μεγάλη πρόοδο τους τελευταίους 7 μήνες. Χαίρομαι που ο αρμόδιος Επίτροπος της ΕΕ @PaoloGentiloni εξέφρασε τη στήριξη της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής στην προσπάθειά μας για μείωση των πρωτογενών πλεονασμάτων από το 2021. https://t.co/SiBUq9hDip pic.twitter.com/eaAvVl1AaP
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) February 6, 2020
“The Greek economy has made great progress in the last 7 months. I am pleased that the responsible EU Commissioner @PaoloGentiloni expressed the support of the European Commission in our effort to reduce primary surpluses by 2021.”
Citing government sources, state news agency amna, writes that Mitsotakis and Gentiloni extensively discussed the state of the Greek economy and its prospects, with the recent figures to show significant progress in a number of areas.
