Europe says yes to aid Greece, but serve more commitments – ANSA.it

BRUSSELS – The game is not over yet, but another important milestone is marked: with the green light of the Eurogroup to the first list of reforms Tsipras and extension of four months of the rescue program, approaching the release of aid needed to Athens to survive. But the result is still not obvious: for the EU list is just “a good start”, and IMF and ECB is too vague to think that the next tranche of aid is already in your pocket. Tsipras and his ministers have until April 30 to fill the content of their list, and only then the former Troika will give its final opinion and recommend whether the disbursement of aid.

With the ‘ ok Eurogroup can leave the national procedures for the approval of the cartel. Now will express parliaments of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Slovenia, possibly by the end of the month because the 28 expiry of the current support program. But there should be no risk even if there were a few days late: March 5, the ECB should decide to re-open the taps to Greek banks, closed on February 11, when Tsipras had decided unilaterally by the end of the program. The ok Eurogroup gives the political support necessary to Frankfurt to begin to accept Greek bonds as collateral.

The credit problems will arise in March, when Athens must repay more than 4 billion bond and 1.9 billion to the IMF. For now the only way seem new issues, but also for those expected to have the green light from the ECB. The first European contact with the reforms of Tsipras, however, was not entirely positive. Despite the prime minister of the left has given up for now to almost all things ‘left’. There remain only food stamps and energy, the block of the seizure of homes for those who can not pay the mortgage, the possible extension of the guaranteed minimum income. Everything else is spending review and spending cuts, to fight tax evasion and corruption, reforms to streamline pa and justice. Things like Europe.

But if Chancellor Merkel the Greek government “is back to reality,” to IMF and ECB has not yet recovered completely down to earth. “To me it is clear that the completion of the assessment can not be based on this list,” the IMF director Christine Lagarde Eurogroup. Because “in various areas” lacking assurances on reforms envisaged in the Memorandum, in particular VAT, pensions and continuation of liberalization, privatization and labor reform. The list is vague, the confidence is low, and they are strong doubts that theory into practice the measures become else. Largely because of the multiple references to “social justice” which according to the Greek Government must guide all measures.

The commitments outlined in the letter of Greece “differ from the current commitments of the program in many areas”, and therefore “we will have to evaluate when reviewing whether the measures are not accepted replaced by measures of equal or better quality,” the ECB president Mario Draghi in his letter to Eurozone finance ministers. The story, then, “is not closed,” said Merkel. Everything now depends on the commitment of the Government of the next two months. But today’s stage was enough to gain confidence in the markets: the Athens Stock Exchange has jumped up to 10%, and the spread between ten-year bonds of Greece and Germany is reduced again and slides under quota to 816.5, with the yield down 8.55%.