Handelsblatt Global: Η αξιολόγηση θα καθυστερήσει πολλούς μήνες

The first assessment of Greece’s third bailout program and associated reforms will take months longer than planned, Handelsblatt has learned.

After one week of negotiations between Greece and its lenders – the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – no compromise is in sight over the implementation of reforms, including of pensions and taxes, that were attached last year to an €86-billion bailout for Athens, sources told Handelsblatt.

“Greece is doing a lot on paper,” but implementation leaves much to be desired, an insider at one of the lenders said.

There is also infighting within the group of financiers: The IMF is reportedly demanding tougher pension cuts than the European Union and ECB, sources said.

The first report on Greece’s progress, which was originally supposed to come out last October, will now be presented to the euro-zone finance ministers by late March at the earliest, possibly even only in summer.