Athens and Brussels find a preliminary agreement on the numbers. After weeks of negotiations, the government of Greece has reached an agreement with international creditors on the budget targets that the country will have to achieve in the next few years. The news was announced by a source of the Greek Executive to the ANA agency.
In detail, Greece has set a target a primary deficit (budget balance, excluding debt payments) by 0,25% in 2015 e a primary surplus by 0,5% in 2016, by 1,75% in 2017 and by 3,5% in 2018. The government source also specified that no new fiscal measures will be needed during this period.
The agreement allows Athens to remain in the race for an agreement on the new bailout plan of 86 billion euros - the third intervention in five years - which must be reached by 20 August, when Athens will have to return 3,2 billion to the European Central Bank.
Coming out of the Hilton hotel where the talks were taking place, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said the deal was almost done. "We are very close," he told reporters. "There are only a couple of minor details left about priority actions."
