Greece has reached an agreement with its creditors from the EU and the IMF on key reforms regarding the labour market, cutting expenditures and energy issues, thus moving closer to reaching a preliminary deal concerning the review of the fulfilment of the third rescue programme before the meeting of Finance Ministers of the Euro zone on April 7, reported Reuters, citing sources close to the negotiation process. According to two unnamed representatives of the EU, Greece will cut expenditures on pensions by up to 1% of GDP in 2019. At the same time, authorities in Athens have agreed to reduce the threshold on the tax-free annual minimum to about EUR 6,000 in order to save more funds amounting to another 1% of GDP. Regarding labour market reforms, Greece will not be forced liberalise further mass layoffs as initially demanded by the IMF. Collective bargaining, which was partially weakened as part of the necessary reforms envisaged in the rescue programme for 2012, is expected to be restored after the current financial assistance programme ends in the middle of 2018. It has to be kept in mind that Greece risks becoming insolvent if a final agreement on the review of the third rescue programme is not reached soon.
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