EU creditors fell short of an agreement with the Greek finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos on budgetary expectations for Greece, once its â¬86 billion bailout program ends in 2018. Both parties said they are “close to common ground” on the tentative deal, which aims to convince the International Monetary Fund to continue its participation in the bailout program. A deal would allow EU officials to travel to the Greek capital next week to conclude the latest round of bailout talks, known as the second review. The Eurogroup’s president, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, expressed optimism in a statement following today’s meeting, and remained hopeful that an agreement would soon be reached. “We’ve made substantial progress today and are close to common ground for the mission to return to Athens [in] the coming week,” Dijsselbloem said, following the meeting with Tsakalotos and officials from the European Central Bank, the IMF and the EU’s bailout-arm â the European Stability Mechanism. “There is a clear understanding that a timely finalization of the second review is in everybody’s interest,” Dijsselbloem said. “We will take stock of the further progress of the second review during the next Eurogroup [on February 20].”
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