The
dispute between Greece and its international lenders on the country’s
debt management is damaging the recovery, according to Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras. He is calling on the EU to recognize the Greek debt
crisis as a "European problem."
"We
are closer than ever before to a solution of this crisis. What is
delaying the effort of regaining the trust of the markets is the
constant disagreement between the European institutions and the IMF,"
Tsipras said during a news conference at the Thessaloniki
International Fair.
Greece's
lenders have "failed miserably" in their policies aimed at
rescuing the Greek economy, Syriza party economist Marica Frangakis
told CNBC.
Tsipras’
and Frangakis' comments follow the eurozone finance ministers’
meeting on Friday. The Eurogroup want Greece to act faster on its
economic reforms in order to get rescue loans from the EU. The
demands on new austerity measures have sparked anger with 14,000
people demonstrating on the streets of Greece’s second-largest city
Thessaloniki.
Greece
has to fulfill fifteen reforms by the September 15 deadline to get a
€2.8 billion tranche from the bailout program.
Under
the terms of the 2015 deal, the creditors including the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank and the eurozone are
to provide €86 billion in aid to Greece by 2018 in return for
unpopular austerity measures.
The
reforms include tax hikes, pension cuts, as well as the privatization
of public assets. Greece is also obliged to bring in a primary budget
surplus to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2018.
So
far, the country has managed to implement only two reforms out of
fifteen.
The
IMF said that it would not participate in Greece’s third bailout
until the issue of debt sustainability is sorted. It also disagrees
with the EU creditors on how much Athens can improve its finances
through ongoing reforms.
Greece’s
current debt is the highest in the eurozone, exceeding 170 percent of
national output.
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