Merkel is coming to Athens tomorrow

German chancellor, Angela Merkel arrives tomorrow, Friday, in Athens, in a positive climate brought by the country's first successful exit to the markets after four years of exclusion.

The overachievent of the lending targets with a relatively low interest rate and Mrs Merkel's visit are developments which send a strong message regarding Greek economy's progress and imminent rebound. The focus is now on the current intentions of German Chancellor for Greece. She is expected to commend the efforts of the Greek government, as well as the sacrifices of the Greek people that have paid off and also to insist on the continuation of reforms, not only as a condition of the memorandum but also as a prerequisite for Greek economy's  return to growth. The German Chancellor will announce the establishment of the Greek-German investment fund as well as the amount of its initial capital.

As part of her visit she will meet with the Greek Prime Minister and innovative entrepreneurs and then with representatives of several institutions - as she had also done on her first visit to our country – in order to be filled in on the the difficulties they're facing and with the agenda to promote Greek-German collaborations for future investments. The major issue now is whether there will be a statement of Mrs Merkel on the viability of Greek debt that will move beyond the cliché that, provided Greece achieves the primary surplus target, partners will contribute to the management of Greek debt, so that it can become sustainable. It will also be interesting to see what she thinks of the Greek position that the country wont need a new aid package with a similar memorandum.

The German chancellor will attribute the developments in the Greek economy and the exit to the market to the austerity policy imposed on memorandum countries. After all, she has the upcomming German Elections to consider and she wants to limit the influence of Eurosceptics in her country.

The Greek government is anxiously looking to counterweight the scandal of Baltakos case, but the question is whether Merkel's visit will have a positive or a negative impact for them, due to the weakened state of the Greek society. The aim, however, of the government staff is to end the period before Easter break with positive events so that it can limit the impact of Baltakos case in the following fortnight.