Greece’s Creditors

“The challenges for Mr. Mitsotakis, if elected, would include reforming a Greek state that has defied many attempted overhauls, convincing Germany and other lenders that his tax cuts will pay for themselves via better growth, and getting his own party to break with old habits of political patronage,” the report states.

The 26 May European Parliament and local elections are a dress rehearsal for the upcoming parliamentary election.

Essentially, the PM’s team is entertaining the idea of small, manageable clashes with creditors that can be easily resolved with a minor governmental retreat.

As the painful negotiation with creditors on home foreclosure protection was going on, a minister who seems to ignore the realities came out and spoke of handing out a 250-euro Easter bonus

According to data provided by Greek banks, the unpaid portion of about 70 percent of home loans for the purchase of a primary residence is less than 100,000 euros, whereas the unpaid portion of 85 percent of non-performing loans is on average 150,000 euros.

The finance ministry now fears that fiscal targets will not be met if employees’ holiday bonuses are restored in the public sector.

The current protection ceiling for primary residences – between 180,000 and 280,000 euros – is viewed as unrealistic by both the banks and creditors.

The report of creditors will determine the stance of the markets and the return of about 700mn euros in profits of eurozone central banks from Greek bonds.

Within the next 30 days Greece’s creditors or “institutions”, which are currently in Athens to conduct an evaluation, expect the government to have met 16 prior commitments.

No normal economy has been saddled with the straight-jacket of huge primary surpluses. No regular economy is subjected to the enhanced surveillance of European institutions and of the IMF.