President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Greece: appreciation was expressed for the work undertaken by the authorities and the efforts made by citizens
Greece’s fiscal performance in 2012 was on target and it is expected to remain so in 2013 and 2014. Bold steps have also been taken to reform and streamline public administration. It is on this basis that the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) disbursed €2.8 billion to Greece on 3 May.
Looking ahead to the next disbursement to Greece, the Eurogroup welcomed the measures already underway designed to ensure targets would be met. These include:
- strengthened organisation of the revenue administration;
- reform of the tax system; and
- recapitalisation and reconsolidation of the banking system.
While further work remains to be done, the Eurogroup declared the necessary elements in place for the member states to finalise their national procedures to allow the next European Financial Stability Facility instalment of €7.5 billion.
The disbursal of the first sub-tranche of €4.2 billion is to be approved in the coming days, following the completion of national procedures and the full implementation all prerequisite actions.
Portugal: expenditure savings needed to keep public finances on track in 2013 and 2014 were welcomed
The Eurogroup recognised the Portuguese authorities' strong commitment to implementation of their programme and their active preparation of Portugal's return to market financing, as recently demonstrated by the successful issuance of long term bonds.
The recent agreement between the Troika and the Portuguese authorities on the measures required to close Portugal's fiscal gap paves the way for the next European Financial Stability Facility disbursement of €1.3 billion as well as the final approval of the lengthening of the maturities on EFSF loans to Portugal.
Cyprus
The Eurogroup took the opportunity to welcome the approval by the European Stability Mechanism's board of directors of the first tranche of €3 billion financial assistance to Cyprus and the disbursement of €2 billion which took place on the same day the Eurogroup met.
This is a critical step towards the stabilisation of the Cypriot economy and clearly demonstrates the Eurogroup's unwavering commitment to preserving the financial stability of the euro area.
Spring economic forecasts
Eurogroup also took stock of the economic situation on the basis of the Commission's Spring forecast and ministers listened to presentations by Spain and Slovenia on the measures that are being undertaken to address economic imbalances in these countries.
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