Greeks will have to wait longer than expected to retire: the retirement age will be raised from 65 to 67. Overnight an Athens government official revealed that the Greek Finance Ministry has finally reached an agreement with the Troika technicians (EU, ECB and IMF) on the reform, one of the most important among those requested of Greece.
The provision has a non-secondary symbolic value, because it will bring the retirement age to the same level as in the main creditor countries, including Germany. On the public accounts front, the measure will allow Athens to save one billion and 100 thousand euros, a non-negligible part of the larger package of 11,5 billion developed by the government.
To unblock the next tranche of aid to the Greek country, however, the Troika must give the green light to all the interventions proposed by the Greeks. There is no agreement yet and, probably, it won't even arrive by the weekend, when the departure of international officials is expected.
“There has been some progress – said the government official -. There is still a funding gap, but there are new ideas on how it can be covered”.
The representatives of the EU, the ECB and the IMF are expected to return to Athens next week: the goal is to reach the final agreement before the8 October, the date on which the next Eurogroup meeting will be held.
