Athens
(AFP) - A delegation of senior Greek minister’s heads into meetings in Paris
with EU-IMF creditors on Tuesday hoping to win a direly-needed new round of
debt relief to propel economic recovery.
Despite a
major reduction in 2012, Europe's statistics agency Eurostat estimates the
country's debt in 2013 exceeded 318 billion euros ($420 billion), or 175.1
percent of economic output, up from 304 billion, or 157.2 percent, a year
earlier.
Much of the
debt is held by European institutions, and Greece says alleviation could come
through lower interest rates or longer maturities.
In Paris,
Greece's ministers of finance, development, labour, justice and administrative
reform will attend what is being billed as preparatory talks ahead of a formal
review of the country's loans.
Excruciating
reforms carried out by Samaras' conservative government seem to be paying off,
at least according to macroeconomic indicators, for Greece.
Last year
it registered a primary surplus, and in April made its first medium-term bond
sale since the start of the Greek crisis in 2010.
Greece also
expects to exit a painful six-year recession this year with economic confidence
improving after four years of austerity reforms.
Samaras
hopes the troika review, which runs through Thursday, will approve a number of
tax breaks, as his government is suffering in opinion polls and early elections
are likely to be held when President Carolos Papoulias' term ends in February.
In turn,
his ministers are expected to be quizzed by auditors on the slow pace of state privatization,
and a contested layoff plan affecting 6,500 public sector jobs by the end of
the year.
Fearing
protests at home, Athens had requested that the troika talks be held on foreign
soil, arguing that that the negotiations -- which drag on for months -- damage
economic sentiment in the country.
Finance
Minister Gikas Hardouvelis argued in a Friday interview that the country's
reforms could be better managed with the troika "in the background".
"I
think it will be done in a more efficient way in the future, precisely because
the troika is not right on our neck," he told the New York Times. "They’ll
be staying in the background."
He added
that another bond issue, the third this year, would take place in coming weeks.
Since 2010 Athens has been granted more than 240 billion euros in credit by the
European Union and International Monetary Fund.
That came
in exchange for strict reforms which, however, have curbed consumer spending
and driven unemployment to one of the highest levels in Europe.
(Source: au.news.yahoo.com)
