Despite the troika originally scheduled to return to Athens on Monday the 2nd of December, the European Commission’s spokesman Simon O’Connor revealed that no precise debt had been set and that a decision was still pending. This unfortunate delay will undoubtedly concern the Ministry of Finances, as Mr. Stournaras’ aim was to complete talks for the payment of loan installments at the upcoming Eurogroup of the 9th of December.
There are two explanations for this delay; the Ministry of Finances claims that Mr. Stournaras’ schedule is burdened with the controversial real estate tax bill, which is going to be submitted in Parliament next week, as well as the 2014 state budget, which will be voted in Parliament on Saturday.
On the other hand, Greece’s creditors are not convinced by the government’s resolve and want to see some more progress in issues such as the primary residence auctions, the restructure of the domestic defense industries and the measures that will be necessary to cover the 2014 fiscal gap.
Despite the uncertainty though, the Ministry of Finances claims that talks are continuing via teleconference and email and maintain that the negotiations will be complete by the end of the year and before Greece assumes presidency of the EU in January.
