EU's Moscovici 'convinced' a Greek deal will be struck
The European Union's commissioner for economic affairs said on Tuesday he was "convinced" that Greece and its creditors would strike a deal on Athens' debt.
23.06.2015
(AFP) The European Union's commissioner for economic affairs said on Tuesday he was "convinced" that Greece and its creditors would strike a deal on Athens' debt.
"I am convinced that we will reach an agreement," Pierre
Moscovici told French radio as hopes rose that a solution to the
five-month standoff between Athens and its creditors could be found.
Moscovici warned however that "work remained to be done" on the question of value-added tax and pension reform.
"For the next two days, and this is starting now, the teams
from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the
European Commission will negotiate with the Greek side to find a deal,"
Moscovici said.
"The outlines of the deal are being drawn up ... we have to work calmly," he stressed.
Frantic negotiations between cash-strapped Athens and its
international creditors are reaching a climax with one week to go before
Greece is due to repay the IMF 1.5 billion euros (2.1 billion USD) or face default and a possible exit from the bloc.
After a crisis summit in Brussels late Monday, European
leaders ordered their finance ministers to hold fresh talks on Wednesday
to thrash out the details ahead of a full meeting of all 28 EU leaders
on Thursday.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker too had
sounded an optimistic note, saying he was "convinced" they could end the
five-month dispute with the leftist Greek government led by Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras.