Greece, creditors still apart on pensions, VAT, CIT
Greece and its international creditors still disagree on reforms of the Greek pension system, Value Added Tax and corporate taxation and there was not much progress made in the talks on loans-for-reforms on Tuesday, EU officials said.
The heads of the European Commission, Eurogroup, the International Monetary Fund, the euro zone bailout fund ESM and the European Central Bank are to meet on Greece at noon CET on Wednesday in Brussels, before Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras joins them an hour later.
The meeting is to help find a deal with debt-ridden Greece that would allow Athens to avoid a default on the IMF on Tuesday in exchange for reforms that would make the country’s economy more efficient. Intense talks have been going on since Tuesday.
“Positions before the meeting with Tsipras are still apart on many points,» one EU official close to the talks said, listing pensions, VAT and corporate taxation. “There was not much progress yesterday.”
Debt restructuring, a key Greek demand in exchange for reforms, is not being discussed so far because it is not part of the current bailout agreement with Greece, the official said. [Reuters]
