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About Us Embassy of Greece in London News Gov't sources certain there is no problem with March tranche
Gov't sources certain there is no problem with March tranche
Government sources expressed certainty in Brussels on Thursday that "there is no problem with the tranche of March", stressing that the preconditions set by the troika for its approval will be met in a reasonable period of time.
According to the same sources, the tranche for March, amounting to 2.8 billion euros will be assessed at the informal Eurogroup of April. As they reminded, two preconditions have been set for the approval of the tranche: the issue of medicines, that has already been fulfilled and the issue of the administrative reform, that remains to be arranged.
As regards the reforming of the Greek public sector, the same government sources noted that three issues remain under consideration: the organisational plans of the ministries, the mobility of the civil servants and the forced redundancies. The same sources justified the delay with the argument that it is a "revolution in the Greek public sector".
On the question of negotiations with the troika, in their entirety, government sources stressed that progress has been achieved, everything is going smoothly and there is no reason for concern. The same sources referred to the relevant statements by the troika and by the representative of the Economy Commissioner, Olli Rehn, expressing certainty that the government "will carry out the reforms in time".
As regards the Labour ministry, the same sources stressed that no pending issues exist.
Coming to the "tax" of the Public Power Corporation (PPC), sources close to the Finance ministry said that Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has proposed that the special tax on real estate be maintained in the PPC's bills until the end of 2013, even amended. The same sources said that the amendment is of a "milder" form, adding that "the PPC's receiving mechanism creates certainty".
"The minister's proposal is on a realistic basis," the Finance ministry sources added, in order to enable the planning of a very good collecting mechanism for the unified tax on real estate as of 01/01/2014.
