20-billion-euro black hole in the Greek budget

According to the Troika’s data, there is a 20 billion euro black hole in the Greek budget in order to meet the requirements for an emergency bailout.

In its electronic version, German magazine Der Spiegel writes that this amount is double the initial estimates and therefore Greece will receive the next tranche of the loan only when it manages to close its deficit.

Eurozone officials admit that the rescue plan of 173 billion euros is already far off target. It should be noted that Greece has been expecting the next tranche of the package of about 31 billion euros since June, while at the same time the recession is greater than initially estimated.

According to the German article, PM Antonis Samaras has asked several times if the creditors of Greece, including the ECB, would be willing to write off part of the country’s debt.

There is also some dispute between the German government and the European Commission as to when they will decide whether to give more aid to Greece. The Commission wants the decision to be made in mid-October, while Germany believes that reliable data will only be available no sooner than November.

Members of the Greek Finance ministry indicate that at this time the budget deficit in Greece is 13.5 billion euros. After the agreement with the Troika, 11.5 billion will come from reductions in State expenditure and 2 billion from revenues.