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Athens and its creditors reached a long-awaited deal this week
on a series of bailout reforms Greece needs to unlock loans from
its 86-billion euro rescue package, the country's third since in
2010.
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which
has yet to announce if it will participate in the bailout, have
now started negotiations over Greece's post-bailout fiscal
targets, a key element for granting it further debt relief.
"Medium-term debt relief measures must be clearly defined by the
May 22 Eurogroup meeting," Tsipras told his cabinet on Thursday,
referring to the finance ministers. "Greece has done its part
and all parties must now fulfill their commitments."
An agreement on debt relief will help Greece wrap up its formal
bailout review after six months of tense talks, help it qualify
for inclusion in the European Central Bank's bond-buying
program, and let it return to bond markets.
Under discussion are the country's targets for a primary surplus
-- which excludes debt servicing cots -- over a decade.
Tsipras' leftist-led government aims to legislate the
recently-agreed reforms, which include cutting pensions in 2019
and reducing the tax-free threshold in 2020, by May 17.
The government, which faces elections in 2019 and is sagging in
opinion polls, controls 153 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament
and should succeed. Labor unions have planned a 24-hour
anti-austerity strike on the day of the vote.
"We decided to complete the process by May 17 in order to
deprive the Eurogroup of the right to talk about delays and
finding excuses to extend the discussions on debt relief," a
government minister said after the cabinet meeting.
(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Gareth Jones)
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