The return of the Troika’s technical teams in Athens tomorrow, along with Eurogroup’s decision for a two-month technical extension of the Greek program, announced at 7:30pm local Greek time from Brussels Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijssebloem and European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici. During the press conference that followed today’s critical Eurogroup, the European officials announced the Troika’s technical teams’ return to Athens. “Although the Troika does not yet officially return, there will be budget experts,” Moskovici said. “But we need to see even more ambitious actions,” he added. He confirmed that his first personal trip will be in Greece and explaining why it did not happen earlier, he commented that “it would have been premature.” “The Troika and the euro area do not want to punish Greece. They just think that some reforms should be implemented,” he said. Tomorrow, Greece will formally submit, by letter, the request of the two-month extension that is expected to be accepted by the Council of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). In this request, Greece will reconfirm its commitment to the implementation of the program’s agreed measures. At the same time, the Troika will present its third report on Greece’s proceedings (factual report). Furthermore, the Troika has proposed extending the availability of 11 billion euros from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) until the end of February and the Eurogroup is expected to approve the request. To complete the program, a Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) is required, which shifted at the end of February “for practical reasons.” Finally, as declared, any decision regarding the precautionary credit line (ECCL) will be taken after the completion of the current program’s evaluation – if it is completed in a positive way.
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