Athens, Brussels and Washington discuss debt haircut

The plan for a haircut of the Greek debt seems to have fully entered well the European officials discussion table. Although Athens and Brussels keep their cards closed, the IMF directorate meets tonight (21:30 CET) to approve the tranche of 1.8 billion euros for Greece and to reassess the overall participation in the Greek rescue program.

The issue will be discussed at the meeting between Yannis Stournaras and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem in Athens. The European official’s visit and Stournaras’ meeting with his French counterpart Pierre Moscovici in Paris yesterday, are showing a visible support for the efforts of the Greek government, which eventually can be translated into a reduction of the Greek debt as well.
 
A few days ago Dijsselbloem had said that it might be early to talk about a haircut of Greek debt, adding that things would be more mature in the middle of next year as long as Greece will have achieved its goals and meet its commitments.

Several statements of the eurogroup head came afterwards, and it seems that behind closed doors European officials are already discussing the IMF official views on a Greek debt reduction. Besides, the Dutch finance minister does not speak only as the eurogroup head, as he is also thinking the public opinion in the Netherlands and Germany, especially now that the chancellery elections are very close.

All this is taking place just before the Troika heads' arrival this Tuesday, who will come to Greece hauling instructions from their leaderships in Brussels, Frankfurt and Washington.