International

Major German media outlets are reporting significant progress in FYROM naming talks, after negotiations between PM Alexis Tsipras and his FYROM counterpart, Zoran Zaev, on May 16-17 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

As far as the real estate tax, and the nationwide property valuations on which it is based, the target is for the government to collect 2,65bn euros in revenues.

It is now abundantly clear that pledges, hints, and pious wishes that pension cuts can be averted were all hollow rhetoric.

“We are still not in a position to speak of an agreement… We still have some way to go to bridge the distance,” the Greek PM said.

Greece’s creditors have expressed their consternation over Athens’ delays in implementing reforms that are prerequisites for the completion of the fourth and last bailout review.

Today’s meeting between Prime Minister Alexsi Tsipras and FYROM PM Zoran Zaev is considered a key turning point in the effort to reach a FYROM naming solution

He denounced the dominion of the memorandums and said he stands by the victims, “whose endurance is constantly being tested by successive economic measures, taken in the name of the so-called fiscal interests of the country”.

Council of State President Nikos Sakellariou resigned today after a leak of the High Court’s ruling, before its official announcement, that government pension cuts were constitutional.

Another matter that racked the party was the rampant rumours that Theodorakis has called for the Movement for Change to collaborate with SYRIZA

The key to a successful restructuring of NPLs, according to the SSM, is the percentage of the loan that the bank thinks it can recoup, based on the borrower’s financial situation.

While the IMF maintains that the adjustment of debt servicing to economic performance should be automatic, Berlin wants stricter terms and a gradual, piecemeal debt relief that would require approval of the German parliament every step of the way.

Expectations of a GDP hike are weak, capital outflow continues, investment is at a very low level, and domestic demand remains weak.

Poul Thomsen, the director of the IMF’s European department, expressed hopes that an agreement may be possible between the IMF and Greece’s lenders on the issue of the Greek debt and debt relief.

Germany is demanding that each bit of debt relief, which will be linked to a binding fiscal framework, must be approved by the German parliament.

Tsakalotos said that the capital security cushion that the government is building up – with huge over-taxation, the opposition charges - must cover Greece’s funding needs for the next two years,

Aside from the import of crude oil from Iran, which represent 20 percent of ELPE’s procurement, ELPE is in the process of paying off old debt to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

As former Prime Minister Kostas Simitis said, the next day will not begin because some people proclaim with pomp and ceremony the end of memorandums and make triumphant speeches about the freedom that we regained.

The huge first quarter surplus, which is two billion euros more than the target, is attributed to major cuts in the Public Investment Programme budget, and exceeding revenues targets in the government budget and the regular budget.

The European creditors are reportedly prepared to wait until mid-August, just before the scheduled end of the bailout programme, for implementation of the agreed reforms.

“A country in need changes only with continual effort, years of systematic work, realistic targets, honesty towards citizens, linkage and cooperation with the international environment, and its leaders’ cognizance of their responsibilities,” the ex-PM concludes.