Tag Archives: reforms

Greece is at risk of not getting some 750 million euros next month that it won under a debt relief deal with the euro zone last year because it has not completed agreed reforms, euro zone officials told Reuters on Monday. The money is part of about 4.8 billion euros …

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Ratings agency Moody’s keeps Greece’s sovereign credit rating unchanged at B3, with a positive outlook, in a credit opinion it issued on Wednesday. The international ratings agency noted that Greece’s prospects will remain positive as long as the government sticks to the reform program it has pledged, which illustrates that …

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The International Monetary Fund insists on further pension cuts in Greece citing not fiscal necessities  but claiming the country must send a clear message to investors and the markets. During a briefing  on Thursday, IMF spokesman Jerry Rice said the measure was voted and adopted in 2017 and it is …

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As it prepares to exit the program era, Greece has come a long way in the path of economic recovery. It still faces many challenges: high unemployment, weak banks, and uncompleted reforms, the IMF tweeted on Friday presenting the concluding statement that describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at …

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Emmanuel Macron agreed on Tuesday to create a budget for the euro zone. They met at Meseberg by Berlin  and agreed also on some other EU reforms like reducing the number of EU Commissioners and take again steps on the migration crisis. The meeting, …

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Greece submitted a draft bill to parliament late on Friday, a bill fully packed with austerity measures worth 5.1 billion euros and counter-measures worth 1.5 billion, in an effort to sweeten the bitter pill to thousands of pensioners and employees. The bill outlines reforms in the energy, pension and labor …

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Greece has made an “enormous” reform effort since its debt crisis broke out and its international lenders must now grant the country debt relief, OECD chief Angel Gurria said while on a visit to Athens on Monday. Gurria, who met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens, urged Greece to …

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Greece and its foreign creditors resumed talks on Monday over a set of reforms the country needs to implement before its multi-billion bailout program expires in August. Privatizations, electronic property auctions, an elimination of tax breaks in certain islands, labor and energy sector reforms, and measures to make Greek public …

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He couldn’t help and couldn’t hide his political schadenfreude over the left-wing government of Greece. The man who rejected any early attempt by SYRIZA for relaxed austerity measures, the outgoing chairman of the non-institutional Euro Working Group that has exercised his full non-authorized power to raise or drawn Greece,  the …

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Managing Director of International Monetary fund and European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici congratulated Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the reforms in Greece. The Greek prime minister met the two officials in separate meetings on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. Greke media …

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Hundreds of Communist party KKE unionists from PAME stormed the Labor Ministry in Athens on Tuesday demanding cancellation of the new strike law introduced in the latest omnibus bill with prior actions dictated by the country’s lenders. Using crowbars, about 500 PAME protesters prised open metal shutters of the labor …

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With this and that on the festive days we forgot European institutions that urgently need to reform. At least, the Germans did not forget the issue and for one more time the criticized the European Central Bank. Even though the former German finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble remains quiet awaiting the …

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“We had a banking crisis, a fiscal crisis and we spent lot of the tax-payers’ money – in the wrong way, in my opinion – to save the banks” outgoing Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said adding “so that the people criticizing us and saying that everything was being done for …

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“Greece is addicted to expensive medicines, and three rounds of rehab have made only a small dent,” Politico.eu writes in an article with title “Poor Greece splurges on costly drugs, to Brussels’ annoyance” and subtitle “EU economic problem case shuns cheaper generics, partly to keep ubiquitous pharmacies afloat. That’s changing too …

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European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said that Greece needs to still legislate a few more fiscal measures but also measures to modernize the public administration and state services. He did acknowledge that the bulk of austerity measures Greece legislated in May were sufficient for the country …

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The Eurogroup meeting on Monday was another disgrace for the 18 eurozone finance ministers. According to reports by Brussels correspondents, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble spent hours of discussing with Poul Thomsen, the Europe representative of the International Monetary Fund, on the Greek issue. Behind closed doors. The rest of …

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The omnibus bill and midterm plan for 2018-2021 has been submitted to the Greek Parliament. The relevant parliamentary committees are to examine 941 pages containing measures for fiscal targets and so-called reforms, the mid-term fiscal strategy framework and other provisions, before the plenary will vote it on Thursday, May 18 …

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Greece and foreign creditors resume talks on Tuesday afternoon after a long break. On the table are the so-called “reforms” prescribed under the international bailout and further debt relief. The aim is to reach a comprehensive deal (staff level agreement) before the Eurogroup meeting on May 22.  Talks are over …

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The International Monetary Fund had a sobering message for Greece this weekend: Even if the country secures debt relief from its European creditors—a question that is by no means assured with bailout talks still deadlocked—the nation still needs even more painful economic overhauls than currently planned. Seven years into an …

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The International Monetary Fund fully adopted the line of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that debt restructuring for Greece was needed but the IMF will not insist on upfront debt relief measures. Modalities must be decided upfront, Lagarde said adding that the IMF is  still …

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