A "scorching" three-yeard period during which we must save 11 billion

Alarm bells are sounding in the government's economic council about the Troika's imminent return, which the Minister of  Finance, Giorgos Papkonstantinou, made statements on at the cabinet meeting. During meetings with government members, Mr. Papakonstantinou plans to clarify the measures to be taken in the three year-period between 2011 and 2014, in order to reduce the deficit from 17 to 6 billion euro.

The intention of the Minister of Finance is to embark on a dialogue with social groups and political parties in order to convince them to "assume responsibiity for their actions".

The Minister of Finance notified the cabinet of the current condition of the economy, the negotiations with the European Union, and the talks within the Eurogroup and Ecofin.

As the minister said, the matter of extending the Greek loan of 110 billion will walk hand in hand with a permanent support mechanism. According to the same information, Mr. Papakonstantinou notified the council that the brief tranquility in the markets is  only temporary and it is due to the intervention by the European Central Bank. He stated that this intervention must not be perpetuated.

According to Mr. Papakonstantinou, the unresolved European issues include the increase in European Fund finances, flexibility and lower loan costs for member countries. The last issue is important for Greece, who aspires to lower interest rates.

According to Mr. Papakonstantinou's report, Germany is pushing for a tighter fiscal plan for all countries.