Difficult negotiations with troika

“Troika will not leave on Sunday because we have much work to do,” a Finance ministry member said, confirming the disputes that have arisen in the talks with troika.

Without precise information, it is estimated that there may have been a jam in the talks with the representatives of Greece’s creditors and the government on the issue of layoffs in the public sector. It is not yet known whether the lenders seek to take new steps to correct the discrepancies between the actual and expected budget revenues in the start of 2013.

Wednesday afternoon, Finance minister Stournaras admitted that the key issue in the talks with troika is mobility in the public sector, but denied the embroilment scenarios on this issue.

During the meeting with the chief auditors Stournaras tried to convince them that the tax collection mechanism will work properly in order to prevent additional pressure for new measures (taxes, salary cuts and layoffs in the public sector).

According to information, the auditors did not seem convinced nor with the explanations by the Administrative Reform minister Antonis Manitakis regarding the issue of mobility in the public sector and seek strong commitments towards a faster personnel reduction and layoffs.