Greece will Complete Prior Actions Before August Break, FinMin Says

Greece will have met all 12 prior actions demanded by its adjustment program before the August  summer holiday break, Greek Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis said in Luxembourg on Friday, after chairing the last ECOFIN council under Greece ‘s EU presidency. “The government has every incentive to move fast and implement the reforms it has promised,” he underlined. Regarding the start of negotiations on the sustainability of Greece’s debt, Hardouvelis said there was no firm date and that these will start “when necessary.” He stressed that there was the guarantee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the financing of the country, while European loans will depend on the completion of prior actions and reforms. The minister repeated that  European elections were responsible for the delay in carrying out the prior actions foreseen under the Greek program, adding that the first six of them will be met before the end of June and the remaining six “will be fulfilled before the holidays in August.” He also stressed that Greece — after six difficult years of financial crisis and recession — was “coming into a new era, with a population that faces its problems and shows a willingness to solve them.” Hardouvelis noted  that every Greek family was affected by the crisis and had to cope with problems, such as unemployment or the inability of employers to pay salaries and said that Greeks now demanded a more balanced policy, in which the promises made would be followed by the necessary financial support.

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