Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters yesterday he was “firmly optimistic” his government would reach an agreement with its creditors by the end of April despite friction over issues such as pension and labour reform.
In a statement, Tsipras said several points of agreement had been found since talks first started, especially on areas such as tax collection, corruption and distributing the tax burden towards those who are most able to pay.
But he acknowledged that the two sides disagreed on four major issues: labour rules, pension reform, a hike in value-added taxes and privatisations, which he referred to as “development of state property” rather than asset sales.
His comments follow suggestions from European partners that a deal to unlock badly needed aid was unlikely next week and that Greece risks running out of cash and defaulting on debt payments.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, among Tsipras’s harshest critics, went so far as to say on Wednesday that “no one has a clue” how a deal could be reached, curbing hopes of a breakthrough at an April 24 meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Riga.
“Despite the cacophony and erratic leaks and statements in recent days from the other side, I remain firmly optimistic that there will be an agreement by the end of the month,” Tsipras told Reuters.
“Because I know that Europe has learned to live through its disagreements, to combine its parts and move forward.”
He said he was confident Europe would not “choose the path of unethical and brutal financial blackmail” but instead opt for “the path of bridging differences” and “stability”.
Greece’s Finance Ministry denied a report by the Financial Times that Athens had approached the International Monetary Fund to request a delay in loan repayments.
Whether it did or not, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said there was no question of any such leeway.
Shut out of bond markets and with financial aid frozen, Greece is perilously close to running out of cash and could be forced to choose between making debt payments, including to the IMF, in May or paying public salaries and pensions.