The prerequisites for the March tranche

In a statement on Greece, Eurogroup welcomes the fulfillment of prerequisite actions in February, calling on Greece to fully implement the agreement to get the approval of the March tranche of 2.8 billion euros.

After the end of the Eurogroup economy commissioner Olli Rehn spoke about the economic forecasts recently adopted by the Commission, according to which the growth in Greece will gradually return in early 2014. He stated, however, that this is an estimation the main and that condition for it to be verified is for Greece to continue its reforms and ensure political stability. These issues, as Rehn said, will be examined in the context of the program evaluation by troika.

Asked for the prerequisites March actions and the issue of mandatory retirements of workers in the Greek public sector, Rehn said that the issue is addressed in the context of the troika assessment and will be settled according to the memorandum provisions. "It's in the hands of the Greek government how to achieve the set goals," he added.

In terms of retirements from the public sector, finmin Yannis Stournaras said "the purpose is to have a smaller and more efficient public sector." He also noted that the shrinking of the public sector is already being accomplished, as figures for retirements in 2011 and 2012 show that the target for 2010-2015 will be surpassed. Asked about the prerequisite actions for the approval of the March tranche, he spoke about reducing the prices of medicines and the reform of public administration.

Referring to the issue of recapitalization of banks, EFSF chief Klaus Regling said that 42 billion euros have already been disbursed in 2012, leaving 7.2 billion, which have already been approved and are available for disbursement in April.

Finally, when asked if they discussed this issue of reducing VAT in Greece, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem responded negatively, but Stournaras said it is under discussion.

The Greek finmin told Bild there will not be a Greek debt restructuring in 2013 and his earlier statements on new restructuring within the year were misrepresented: "My statements were misrepresented. Once again, we won’t have bad news from Greece this year.” Regarding Cyprus, he said we should not even be thinking of a possible bankruptcy.