Most Greeks see fourth bailout nearing: survey

Most Greeks see a fourth bailout program on the horizon, a new survey showed on Sunday, despite the government's assurances that Greek economy is on the right track to recovery and no additional measures were needed.

"Proto Thema" (Top story) newspaper cited the opinion poll carried out by Marc polling firm and reported that about 79.7 percent of Greeks believe that the fourth bailout is nearing.

However, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said in an interview with Ethnos (Nation) newspaper that "We will not accept additional measures... The only scenario we are working on is the completion of the second review (of the third bailout)."

And 82 percent of respondents gave a negative remark to the Left administration for its two years in office, while nearly 60 percent expect that snap elections are a matter of time.

The survey finds that if elections were held this weekend, the main opposition New Democracy would win with 31.2 percent of votes while the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA would follow with 15.4 percent.

The Greek Communist party KKE would rank third (6.9 percent), the far-Right Golden Dawn fourth (6.5 percent) and the center-Left Democratic Alliance would be the last party entering the parliament with 6.2 percent of votes, the survey shows.

The government, however, has repeatedly rejected the opposition's calls for snap elections.

"We are not afraid of the polls, but at the moment they will harm the country," Tzanakopoulos said on Sunday, reiterating the need for a swift conclusion of the pending bailout review.

The second review of the third bailout Greece sealed in the summer of 2015 was initially scheduled to have been concluded by the end of 2016.

However, Athens and its creditors have not found common ground on the next set of measures that will unlock the next aid tranche.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund has yet to clarify whether it will participate in the program, requesting as a prerequisite the immediate legislation of supplementary measures for 2019 and debt relief.

The delays and lack of clarity will cost the Greek economy greatly, the Greek parliament's Budget Office warned in a report.

Prolonged uncertainty will generate a new vicious circle of stagnation and lead Greece to a fourth bailout or default and Grexit in the worst case scenario, Professor Panagiotis Liargovas, head of the budget office, explained while he was speaking to local SKAI television.

Following the lack of progress during the Eurogroup meeting last Thursday, the expert said that the second review should close by the next Eurogroup meeting on Feb. 20. Enditem