Markets require more positive signs

Eurozone officials are increasing pressure on Athens to have the third bailout review completed by the end of the year and implement the reforms agreed.

This will be the message that Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Euro Working Group head Thomas Wieser will convey to the government. The two men are visiting Greece on Sunday to participate in an Economist conference on Monday and Tuesday. They will also warn that the constant legal hounding of former Hellenic Statistical Authority chief Andreas Georgiou may have an impact on market access and confidence in the government.

In a routine document updating the Dutch parliament on the recent Eurogroup meeting, Dijsselbloem wrote that “the European Commission has agreed that the third review will have to be completed as soon as possible and ideally by the end of the year.”

The head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling, told French daily Le Figaro on Friday that Greece can emerge from the program in August 2018 and secure financing from the markets provided it implements the necessary reforms to bolster growth and create jobs. He added that the first successful bond issue in the summer was “a good sign.”