While Greek officials remain ‘confident’ of their ability to deliver a reform package that the Troika-esque “institutions” will accept tomorrow (notably a bank holiday in Greece), it appears the Germans are not so sure. Hans Michelbach, a finance expert of the Christian Social Union, told the Handelsblatt newspaper it is “inconceivable that the German parliament can make a final decision on the bridge program for Greece before the end of February.” Having already seemed to capitulate on the promises made to the electorate, and now beginning to crack down on tax evasion, we wonder how long it will be before the dreaded ‘Drachmatization‘ occurs (by dictat or revolution).
After the cabinet council on Saturday Yanis Varoufakis told reporters…
“I am almost certain our list with the reforms will be approved by the institutions, they won’t say no. If institutions say No on Monday, there will be a eurogroup meeting on Tuesday. I hope they say Yes.”
The Greek proposals are thought as structural reforms to be legislated and implemented for the time of the “Bridge-Program”, but the “institutions” do not seem as confident…
The German parliament is unlikely to approve extending Greece’s bailout before it expires at the end of the month, a senior lawmaker of Germany’s ruling coalition said Sunday, according to Bloomberg..
Hans Michelbach, a finance expert of the Christian Social Union, told the Handelsblatt newspaper it is “inconceivable that the German parliament can make a final decision on the bridge program for Greece before the end of February.”
The CSU is the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. The finance ministers of Greece and the other eurozone countries agreed on Friday to an extension of the bailout program for the highly indebted country, which has to be approved by the parliaments of some of the supporting countries, including Germany.
The Greek overhaul proposals must be examined thoroughly by the governments and the parliaments, and that process won’t be concluded by Feb. 28, Mr. Michelbach said.
If there is a “nein” tomorrow then Tsipras has stated that he will call for an emergency Eurogroup meeting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as The BBC reports, as if the capitulation on promises were not enough to stir the angst-ridden heart of the Greek population, the Greek government will crack down on tax evasion and streamline its civil service in its bid to secure a bailout extension, minister of state Nikos Pappas says…
The government is working on a package of reforms that it must submit to international creditors on Monday.
If the reforms are approved, Greece will be granted a vital four-month extension on its debt repayments.
Mr Pappas said the reforms being proposed would take the Greek economy “out of sedation”.
“We are compiling a list of measures to make the Greek civil service more effective and to combat tax evasion,” he told Greece’s Mega Channel.
He added that talks this week would be “a daily battle… every centimetre of ground must be won with effort”.
And so, while the world appears to believe a deal is done… it remains very much in limbo at the mercy of the Germans. And in case anyone was wondering, The Greeks have already drawn up the “New Drachma” notes… just in case…
As News247 reported in 2013, the 6 banknotes (designed by Paul Vatikioti) of 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 10,000 drachmas have pictures of Cornelius Castoriadis, Odysseus Elytis, Yiannis Moralis, Georgios Papanikolaou, Melina Mercouri and Maria Callas…
Good luck tomorrow Yanis..
