The government is making its final preparations to ensure that the upcoming troika visit that is scheduled for Monday the 4th of November is not postponed or delayed. The troika’s technical teams will arrive on Monday, with a possibility of the chief negotiators arriving two days afterwards. Poul Tomsen, who recently overcame a health issue, is expected to return to Athens to represent the IMF.
To that end, the Ministry of Finances and the troika are already planning a series of meetings in order to push forward any changes before the upcoming Eurogroup on the 14th of November. After all, Eurogroup president Gerund Dijsselbloem called the Samaras government to further develop its cooperation with the troika representatives.
The crucial unresolved matters that have held up the 1-billion-euro loan installment include restructuring defense industry EAS and finding a solution for the 2014 budget gap, which the troika estimates to be about 2.5 billion euros.
A senior Ministry of Finances officer doubted the troika divs and reported to To Vima that the government has estimated the gap to be between 200 and 500 million euros. The officer explained that “there will be a problem” if they gap exceeds the 500 million euro estimate and has requested that the troika proves its divs with technocratic arguments.
