Greek gov't confident for imminent progress on bailout actions

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared confident on Tuesday that Athens will achieve imminent progress in coming days to unlock the next bailout installment next week, according to government sources.

Addressing a cabinet meeting a few hours after Monday's Euro Group meeting in Brussels that gave Greece one more week to resolve pending issues in talks with lenders, the Leftist premier was said to have welcomed the outcome as one more signal that Athens can convince interlocutors by negotiating and building alliances.

The government's top priority at the moment was to conclude talks on thorny issues such as the management of nonperforming loans and auctions of houses by the weekend, Tsipras said, according to the sources.

The goal was that as soon as next Monday the Euro Working Group and the European Support Mechanism (ESM) can give the green light for the disbursement of a two-billion-euro (about 2.14 billion U.S. dollars) loan and an extra 10 billion euros for the recapitalization of Greece's banking sector respectively.

Despite progress made in recent weeks in fulfilling prior actions agreed with creditors to secure the new funding under the third bailout commitments, some issues remain unresolved.

For example in the key issue of home foreclosures Athens initially pushed for the protection of more than 75 percent of indebted homeowners, while creditors requested stricter criteria which would result in the protection of less than 50 percent of people concerned.

Cabinet ministers on Tuesday expressed optimism that a compromise solution could be reached in coming days on the issue, that the disbursement of aid will run smoothly and the recapitalization of Greek banks will have been concluded by the end of 2015.

By early December the government needs to address another series of key issues, such as the new pension system reform and the creation of a new privatization fund that must be approved by the parliament.

In parallel, Tsipras' government has to deal with the refugee crisis. The topic was on the agenda of Tuesday's cabinet meeting as well, according to the sources.

The Greek premier will be among European leaders who will gather in Malta on Wednesday and Thursday for a summit with their African counterparts on the refugee crisis.

Next week Tsipras will visit Turkey for talks with the neighboring country's political leadership on the issue.

Athens has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that in order to put an end to the tragedies occurring every other day in the Aegean Sea this year, where thousands of refugees have lost their lives in their attempt to reach Greece in boats provided by smugglers, the European Union should seek stronger cooperation with Ankara. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars) Endit