Greece can’t seem to see the light at the end of its financial tunnel. No matter what moves it makes, it isn’t enough to get the country out from under its pile of fiscal woes.
Despite its payment last week of a 200-million euro (US$224 million) interest payment to the International Monetary Fund, which it did by requiring all state enterprises including schools and pension funds to transfer all reserves to an account at the Central Bank, it hasn’t made a dent in its dubious economic position.
To make matters worse, by midweek, a larger disbursement of 750 million euros is due and it is doubtful if Greece will succeed in making this payment.
EU officials are expecting the worst and are warning that if there is no “real” progress by Monday, the country will default.
Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission, voiced his concern by saying, “"What we now need is real progress.” She warned that “There is no 'Plan B' for Greece…If you work on a 'Plan B' you basically have given up 'Plan A'."
Athens faces the risk of defaulting on debt repayments and being forced out of the euro zone and has made several moves towards resolving its situation. But negotiations with the IMF and the EU have moved at a snail’s pace and lenders are pessimistic that Monday’s meeting of euro zone finance ministers will come to any agreement on what to do next.
Most Eurogroup representatives do not expect Monday's Eurogoup meeting to reach a deal and warned once again of a Greek default.
In the meantime, Greece's main debt negotiator called on both the EU and the IMF for more time to break the impasse in debt talks. Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece's newly appointed coordinator of the talks, believes a settlement can be achieved. He said that "Any delay in achieving a compromise has to do with one and only one reason and this is the political differences between the government and the institutions.”
"After weeks of laborious negotiations, if there is a real will from the other side, it will be clear that the discussion has reached a level where an agreement is very close and will be reached in the coming period," Tsakalotos said.