Finmin briefs PM on talks with troika officials

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has briefed Prime Minister George Papandreou on the results of his marathon two-day talks with EU and IMF inspectors in Athens, sources at the prime minister’s office said on Sunday night. According to the same sources, the prime minister’s advisor on economic issues Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank vice-president, was also present.

Talks between Papaconstantinou and the troika officials began on Saturday morning and continued until late on Sunday night. Finance ministry officials said that the discussion would focus mainly on the implementation of structural reforms included in the memorandum. Thorny issues on the table were labour issues and sector labour agreements, as well as transfers of staff in public utilities and state enterprises.

The troika officials will then present their conclusions after the latest inspection of the Greek economy in a press conference, originally scheduled to take place on Monday but later postponed until Tuesday next week.

The government is optimistic that EU-IMF officials will agree to the release of the third instalment of loans to Greece, or 9 billion euro, under the financial support mechanism.

The part of the loan given by the IMF is to be released within December, while that from the Eurozone member-states in January 2011.