Greece delivers 'comprehensive' reforms list

Greece delivers 'comprehensive' reforms list

ATHENS - Greece delivered to Brussels on Tuesday a delayed but what it called "very comprehensive" list of reforms that Athens hopes will secure a four-month extension to its financial lifeline.

Greece has delivered to Brussels a delayed but what it calls a 'very comprehensive' list of reforms

The list, which was supposed to have been delivered by midnight (2300 GMT) on Monday, was "received on time" on Tuesday, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said in a tweet.

The measures will be examined first by the "troika" of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which now hold most of Greece's enormous 320-billion-euro ($360-billion) in debts.

Brussels officials say that if these institutions deem the proposals sufficient, they will then be discussed in a conference call among the eurozone's 19 finance ministers later Tuesday.

Stocks on the Athens market soared seven percent on news of the reforms list delivery.

Time though is of the essence and the stakes are high, with Greece's current 240-billion-euro bailout programme due to expire on Saturday and several European parliaments needing to approve any extension.

If Athens fails to win more time and the bailout expires, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's month-old government risks running out of money, triggering a likely run on banks and even possible ejection from the 19-country eurozone.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told CNN late Monday, while denying any delay, that the list of reforms was "very comprehensive", focusing on tackling tax evasion, corruption and alleviating poverty.

"This is a very exciting moment because we are getting to be the co-authors of our fate," Varoufakis said.

"I can assure you that people on the street are elated by this return to dignity of a people, the Greek people, who for five years have been treated as a debt colony."

A Greek government source said that the measures included free electricity for 300,000 poor families, free access to health care, food and public transport coupons and aid for those on low pensions.

- Voter backlash -

Tsipras, whose Syriza party swept to power last month, will face a voter backlash if he fails to deliver on promises made before his election victory to reverse hated austerity measures.

However other eurozone members, not least powerhouse Germany, are concerned that Athens might backtrack on promises to cut spending and pass root-and-branch reforms made in return for its two bailout packages.

Berlin fears that any slippage might prompt other eurozone countries to go easy on the tough austerity measures that Chancellor Angela Merkel sees as vital to preventing a return of the eurozone debt crisis.

"The fundamentals -- namely assistance in exchange for reform -- must remain the same," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the Bild daily in comments published on Monday.

"Of course there will be measures that fit with the philosophy of Syriza... but they also have to take account of budgetary balance and the need to repay debts," EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told France 2.

- Reality bites -

Tsipras, 40, has vowed to end the "humiliation" and "vicious circle" of spending cuts demanded by Greece's creditors.

He wants to use the next four months to draw up a new reform package that puts the country -- where unemployment stands at 25 percent -- on a fairer road to recovery after years of recession, spending cuts and state job losses.

But the firm and united negotiating stance of Germany and other eurozone countries has already obliged the former motorbike-riding communist activist and the energetic Varoufakis to give ground.

Athens pledged on Friday to refrain from one-sided measures that could compromise fiscal targets and had to abandon plans to tap some 11 billion euros in leftover European bank support funds.

UniCredit economist Erik Nielsen called it a "complete political surrender to the world of reality".

Tsipras insisted at the weekend that his coalition government had achieved an "important negotiating success" which "cancels out austerity". Athens says that it, not the country's creditors, is now calling the shots.

But cracks were already beginning to show, with Manolis Glezos, a 92-year-old wartime resistance hero and one of Syriza's most respected members, distancing himself from Tsipras.

"The chance of policy mistakes, political volatility and implementation risks remains quite high, and may rise," said Daniele Antonucci, economist at Morgan Stanley

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT