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Int'l lenders bailout reviewers to return to Greece: Eurogroup president

Xinhua, February 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

Experts from international lending bodies will soon return to Athens to complete a review of Greece's economic reforms, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup said here on Monday.

Eurozone finance ministers gathered in Brussels on Monday and discussed the ongoing second review of Greece's economic adjustment program, which has been in a deadlock for months.

"We have intensified talks in the last week, with the institutions and the Greek government, to find enough common ground for the institutions to go back to Athens. The outcome of today is that they will go back to Athens in a very short time," Dijsselbloem told a press conference after the Eurogroup meeting.

The review -- carried out by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- has been on hold since last December when IMF's requirement of a substantial debt relief to Greece was refused by the European creditors.

The president of Eurogroup said the outcome of the meeting was a "very positive and good step," which allows the review mission to return to Athens and resume work in order to conclude a staff-level agreement on policy reforms.

A staff-level agreement is a necessary condition for the successful conclusion of reviews and therefore for the country to receive financial support consisting of 86 billion euros (91 billion U.S. dollars) in bailout funds.

But Dijssebloem stressed "there is no agreement, no political agreement at this point, as that would be too early."

Meanwhile, to address the IMF's concern of debt sustainability, Dijsselbloem said the review mission would shift from austerity measures to structural reforms.

"There will be a change in the policy mix moving away from austerity and putting more emphasis on deep reforms which has also been a key element for the IMF," he said, noting that the mission experts would work with the Greek authorities on tax and pension system reforms, and also on labor market regulation.

The meeting comes with Greece due to make a 7.2- billion-euro repayment in July.

To avoid the Greek economy falling back into uncertainty, Dijsselbloem urged the Greek government and the institutions to come to an agreement as soon as possible.

"We all feel a sense of urgency because of the key issue of confidence. If we want the economic growth in Greece to continue and to start picking up, confidence is the key factor," he said.

"That confidence has been returning in the last year and needs to strengthen and we do not want to jeopardize that. That will be a strong motivator to do the work as soon as possible," he added. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S dollars) Endit