Greece to submit proposals for 6 key reforms at Eurogroup meeting: gov't sources

Greece will launch the next round of talks with international lenders by submitting proposals for six key reforms at the upcoming Eurogroup meeting on March 9, government sources said on Tuesday.

The two first reforms, according to Greek cabinet officials who did not want to be named, concerned the humanitarian crisis in combination with the administrative reform.

The first draft bill the new government tabled at the parliament on Tuesday aimed to tackle the humanitarian crisis which erupted after the start of the debt crisis five years ago. The draft law which will be put to vote in coming days foresees the provision of free electricity, rent subsidies and food stamps to thousands people in need.

The third proposal was the draft law on the settlement of overdue debts to the state and social insurance funds in a bid to ease the burden on the shoulders of recession-hit households and companies and boost revenues.

The three final proposals, according to the Greek national news agency, concerned the reform of the tax administration to combat tax evasion.

On Monday Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will present the list to his euro zone counterparts and discuss which ones could be implemented with no delays, so that Greece could perhaps receive in return during March a part of the pending 7.2-billion-euro (8 billion U.S. dollars) loan tranche from the four-year bailout program which expired last weekend.

Under the Feb. 20 Eurogroup bridge deal for the extension to June of the loan agreement Greece will receive further funding to stay afloat after a review of the commitments undertaken in April.

The newly elected Left-led government assured that a solution will be found and Greece will meet all its financial obligations in coming weeks.

Meanwhile foreign officials and analysts warned that Athens will face a credit event in case it fails to repay a 1.5 billion euro loan to the International Monetary Fund in late March. Endit