Greece pressed to spell out savings package

THE European Commission pressed Greece to spell out “key elements” of a new savings package, such as the timetable for state asset sales, in order to qualify for the next aid installment.

Stabilising Greece’s situation is the “immediate challenge” facing European officials who are grappling with the debt crisis and trying to prevent contagion from any “uncontrolled default,” EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a speech in Washington yesterday.

“A condition for the new programme is that Greece implements all the corrective measures required, without any wavering,” Mr Rehn said.

“In the past couple of weeks Greece has gone a long way toward meeting these demands, but we are not quite there yet.”

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told lawmakers in Athens yesterday that he preferred Greeks to suffer wage and pension cuts rather than endure the complete economic collapse of the country.

Greeks must take the decisions to meet fiscal targets, Venizelos said, in comments broadcast live on state-run Vouli TV.

Referring to austerity measures announced on Wednesday, he said that there was no time for delay and that what was being decided now was the fate of the July 21 second financing package for Greece, not simply the sixth tranche of loans from the first bailout.

Experts from the commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund won’t return to Athens until the Greek government reveals more details of the programme, the European commission said. The goal is to resume talks next week.

“These elements are still on the table and need to be finalised before the task force goes back,” commission spokesman Olivier Bailly told reporters in Brussels.

Greece has promised cuts in pensions and public workers’ wages in an effort to persuade European governments and the IMF to release an €8 billion loan installment to save it from default next month.

Greece, the country at the origins of the European debt crisis, is under pressure to clarify the schedule for selling state assets and translate a pledged overhaul of the civil-service system into savings.

The “troika” of commission, ECB and IMF experts will “hopefully” return to Athens early next week to pave the way for a decision on the next loan, Bailly said.