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EU commissioner voices optimism before Greek debt talks

Xinhua, May 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

It is possible to set up a framework for a global deal which would help Greece unlock aid from creditors and repay its debt due in July, a European commissioner said Monday at a Eurogroup meeting here.

"I hope today that we will set the framework for a global deal, a demanding deal. That's what the commission believes, and we believe it's possible," Pierre Moscovici, the European Union (EU) commissioner for economic and financial affairs, told reporters.

His remarks came on his arrival at a meeting gathering finance ministers of the 19-country eurozone to discuss the Greek debt issue, hours after the Greek Parliament approved austerity measures to meet creditors' demands.

Moscovici said the European Commission, the EU's executive body, believed Greece had achieved a lot, and the pension reforms and income tax reforms Greek legislators voted for were "very important steps."

"We should today recognize that this effort has been taken. It represents a number of very strong measures, and with that, Greece will be on its way to recover growth," he said.

He also denied eurozone finance ministers had backtracked on their commitment to debt relief, saying that with progress made on reforms and the contingency measures, attention could now turn to debt. Endit