The Greek government hopes to reach agreement with institutions a lot sooner than April 20, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in Brussels on Monday, calling the Eurogroup meeting he attended “an important step to the successful application of the February 20 Eurogroup decision.” Varoufakis said details would be fleshed out for the reform program the Greek government would apply during the four “bridge” months and said that it was important to create the circumstances to reach a negotiation agreement for the period following June that would include economic growth and recovery. The Februay 20 agreement was not expected to be completed in one day, he noted, and added that in his letter to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem he had requested the immediate start of technical negotiations with the institutions. “Negotiations with the institutions will begin in Brussels on Wednesday, and we are waiting with great anticipation for the start of the real work,” he said. Asked to comment on statements related to a referendum he mentioned in an interview by an Italian daily, Varoufakis said there is no such issue and one must not encourage yellow journalism. “I responded to a hypothetical question, what would we do if the eurozone rejected all of the Greek government’s proposals for reform,” he explained. To another question the Greek finance minister said that Greece would be able to cover its fiscal needs in March and April, and that the application of the Eurogroup agreement was going into effect. The issue of liquidity, he added, will be guaranteed by the Greek government in tandem with the institutions, he added. On the sidelines of the Eurogroup meeting, he told the press he had met separately with EU Economy and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi and head of European affairs for the International Monetary Fund Poul Thomsen. Following the Eurogroup meeting, he said, he met with EFSF head Klaus Regling and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. He declined to give further details, saying these talks were held on a confidential basis and that the common theme to all is how to move forward as effectively as possible for the four-month grace period in order to get a positive result. (source: ana-mpa)
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