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The European Commission said it had adopted its first report for
Greece under an enhanced surveillance framework put in place
after the concusion of its bailout programme in August.
But it said activation of some debt relief measures, agreed by
euro zone finance ministers in June, would depend on how well
Greece performed in the future when it was re-assessed.
Reuters quoted sources on Tuesday as saying the country might
miss a tranche of profit returns on Greek bond holdings due to
delays in the pace of privatisations.
However a Greek government official suggested that was
premature, stating an overall assessment would be made by Dec.
31.
About 4.8 billion euros ($5.48 billion) of profits from Greek
bonds held by the European Central Bank and other eurozone
central banks are supposed to be channelled back to Athens by
June, 2022, in semi-annual tranches, as agreed with lenders
under its post-bailout agreement.
Linking the so-called ANFA and SMP profit returns to Greece's
post-bailout performance was seen as an incentive for Athens to
remain committed on hard-won reforms adopted under the three
bailouts worth billions.
The Commission said it concluded that the draft budgetary plan
Greece presented for 2019 ensured compliance with its commitment
to achieve a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP.
"Progress with reforms in other areas is found to be mixed and
the authorities will need to accelerate implementation to meet
their objectives," the Commission said in a statement.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas and Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by
Richard Balmforth)
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