Why the Greek government did not agree with troika

Yesterday's meeting at Maximos Mansion between premier Samaras and the troika auditors failed to reach a compromise and so the negotiations have been extended until the end of the month. The auditing team will return late March. However, finmin Yannis Stournaras said Greece will get the March tranche and the remaining issues will be closed until the return the auditors.

The Greek PM departs for Brussels today for the EU Summit. The issue of Greece is not on the agenda but Samaras will discuss it personally with officials and prime ministers of the EU.

The first disagreement with Greece’s lenders representatives lies in the issue of civil servants. Troika calls for layoffs and claims minister Antonis Manitakis is unable to present charts of departments and schedules for transfers or retirements. Manitakis presented a new plan yesterday but still he did not satisfy troika. Reportedly, Samaras also deplores the minister and his handling. The second point of disagreement is the collect of taxes on real estate. The Greek government is committed to replacing the hike through PPC by the single property tax, but troika insists to extend the measure for another year.

Troika has rejected the VAT reduction in catering at 13% as well as the elimination of the measure for heating oil. The repayment of debt of citizens in the State remains open. There are also minor issues, such as adjusting the tranches for IKA, debts of municipalities, the EOPYY deficit and settling the loans toward banks.

Since the auditors left without the two sides reaching an agreement, the negotiation is transferred to their political superiors. The representatives of the lenders argue that there are significant delays in administrative and fiscal reforms and in changing the tax collection mechanism, insisting that the government program will present significant shortfalls. The Greek government says that the strength of Greek society has been exhausted and that deviations in revenues will be covered until the end of the year.