Mitsotakis rounds off trip with Draghi talks at ECB

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis completed a three-day trip to England and Germany Wednesday by holding talks with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt.

Mitsotakis, who also met with investors in London earlier in the week, used the opportunity to set out his ideas for a plan that could return Greece to growth based on a series of reforms and primary surplus targets that would be no higher than 2 percent of gross domestic product from 2018.

“I explained that a necessary condition for the Greek economy to recover is the implementation of structural reforms that will improve Greece’s competitiveness and attract investments,” he said after the meeting.

Sources said that during his talks with Draghi, Mitsotakis expressed concern that while the SYRIZA-led coalition is adopting measures, it is also rolling back some reforms.

“The ECB acknowledged that during the last year there has been visible progress in the implementation of the third economic adjustment program for Greece, which resulted in the reinstatement of the waiver on June 22,” the European Central Bank said in a statement.

“Also, the ECB reiterated the need to implement expeditiously and own the far-reaching and ambitious reform agenda envisioned in the program in order to boost economic growth and support the creation of new jobs.”