Moscovici: Pension reform key to completion of program review, IMF must stay on board

The review of the Greek program can only be completed after the leftist-led government has pushed through a crucial pension reform in Parliament, Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s economic affairs commissioner, said adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must stay in the nation’s bailout program.

“Since the summer, we are trying to build a success story. The climate is very constructive in our talks, reforms have been voted by the Parliament which are courageous and ambitious, and now what we need is also a courageous and ambitious reform of the pension system,”Moscovici said in an interview with Bloomberg at Davos, Switzerland.

“We have a first draft which is comprehensive and positive and we obviously need more precise parameters, so we are going to negotiate that with the Greek government,” Moscovici said adding that he expected to discuss progress with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at Davos.

“My message is simple: Greece must come back to growth through reform with the success of our program,” he said.

Moscovici said that wrapping up the review of the program was a prerequisite for discussing any reprofiling of the Greek debt. “We need to do that step by step,” he said.

The French official said it was key that the IMF remained part of the Greek bailout.

“It is absolutely necessary that the IMF stays on board with us… We need to find a deal all together,” he said.