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Greece dismisses media leaks over reform list

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greece dismissed on Thursday media reports over the reform list it submitted to creditors for approval.

Greek government sources insisted that Athens' target remained at up to 1.5 percent of GDP primary budget surplus for 2015 instead of 3.9 percent as reported. The target set in the bailout program which expired in February this year stood at 3.0 percent.

Addressing the Greek parliament on Thursday, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said it was "unacceptable" that Greek and European citizens had been informed on nonpublic developments regarding the ongoing negotiations between Greece and Eurogroup from news websites.

He explained that Athens had not released key elements of the talks so far because it was bound by confidentiality terms.

The Greek official stressed that the draft content of measures under discussion were not leaked to foreign media by the Greek side and underlined that "such leaks undermine confidence in the institutions."

In addition, Greek government sources strongly disputed information printed this week in international media which cited sources very close to the negotiators.

The Greek finance ministry's growth forecast stands at up to 1.5 percent of GDP for 2015 and 2.9 percent for 2016, the sources said, stressing that in no case Athens would agree to measures that would lead Greece back to a recession.

According to the unconfirmed media reports, the list was said to contain the regulation of e-gaming, public tenders for TV licenses, and a reference to an extra 1.5 billion euros (about 1.62 billion U.S. dollars) in revenues from privatizations.

As deliberations between negotiators from both sides continued behind closed doors and over telephone conversations, Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis assured Greek media on Thursday that a deal would be reached soon.

"We are close to an agreement," he told Mega TV. Endit