ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece expects euro zone finance ministers to
focus on short- and medium-term debt relief for Athens when they meet on
May 24, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said on Tuesday.
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.
