Fra Guardian
IMF top negotiator won’t arrive in Athens until Thursday
After getting off to a bumpy start yesterday, negotiations with mission chiefs representing Greece’s creditor institutions will begin today minus one, we have just been told.
From Athens our correspondent Helena Smith reports
The hotly-anticipated arrival of all four mission chiefs representing the EU, ESM, ECB and IMF will have to wait until tomorrow, the Guardian has just been told.
After much confusion, a finance ministry official has confirmed that the Rumanian economist Delia Velculescu, who will be heading the IMF team to Greece, will not be flying in until tomorrow.
The well-placed source told me
“There’s no particular reason for the delay.
But I can confirm she won’t be coming in today, she’ll be arriving tomorrow.”
The official rejected suggestions that the delay was directly linked to difficulties with the IMF, which of all the creditor bodies has taken the toughest stand with Greece.
“There’s absolutely no mystery to it,” said the official adding that it remained unclear how long the inspection tour would last.
Velculescu comes with a reputation. The Rumanian economist who will be reporting to former mission chief Poul Thomsen (now head of the IMF’s European department) was previously appointed mission chief for Cyprus where her demanding stance earned her the nickname Dracula.
US-trained, she will be tough with Athens applying prior actions in the coming weeks.
Already the talks are mired in dispute amid speculation that the Greek government will have to pass more restrictive measures through parliament to qualify for bailout funds.
Rumour has been rife that creditors will demand further prior actions not least pension cuts and tax hikes on profits made by farmers – neuralgic issues bound to trigger further anger in Syriza.
In a statement the Greek finance minister rejected any suggestion that the government might be forced to impose further prior actions.
“As far as reports of prior actions are concerned it should be noted that neither in the agreement of the European summit on the 12 of July nor in the two letters that the Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos sent to the ESM was there the slightest hint of a third package of prior actions.”
The latest talks, the ministry said, would focus on changes to the Greek pension system labour reform, fiscal policy and market regulation.
