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Finance ministers from the shared currency bloc are expected to
assess next week whether Greece qualifies for new bailout loans
and to discuss debt restructuring. Athens is hoping that
reprofiling its mountain of debt will help it regain market
access and convince its public that the six years of austerity
they have endured are beginning to pay off.
"We expect the Eurogroup to talk about the short-term and
medium-term decisions on debt relief," Gerovasili told
reporters. "A long-term solution is a bigger discussion."
Cash-strapped Greece has been excluded from global debt markets
since 2014. It agreed a third multi-billion euro bailout last
July and started talks with lenders last week on how to make its
debt more manageable.
Euro zone finance ministers aim to draw up a "road map" at the
May 24 meeting to secure the participation of the International
Monetary Fund in the Greek bailout rather than finalize a full
three-stage debt-relief program.
The euro zone is considering longer grace periods and maturities
for Greece in the medium term. But it may also decide on whether
more debt relief is needed to ensure that Athens' debt-servicing
costs are sustainable in 2018 if Greece meets its primary
surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP.
The IMF believes Athens will miss that target unless it is
granted significant debt relief and takes extra measures. It has
not yet decided whether it will participate financially in
Greece's bailout program, but its involvement is crucial for
Germany.
Asked about the views of the IMF on debt relief, Gerovasili said
that they were 'always in the right direction'.
The Greek parliament has already approved pension and income tax
reforms demanded by its lenders and worth 2 percent of GDP.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who has a narrow majority of 153
seats in the 300-seat parliament, hopes that a vote on tax hikes
and new reforms on Sunday, two days before the Eurogroup
meeting, will help the country during the talks.
Lawmakers will also vote on a contingency mechanism to impose
spending cuts that will be activated only if Athens misses its
fiscal targets.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Michele Kambas; Editing by Hugh
Lawson)
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