Troika may return to Athens in coming day

The troika is expecting Greek authorities to respond within the week to a number of issues that have been raised, a European official said, and then the heads of the mission will return to Athens to continue the fifth review of the country's programme.

The same official underlined that this review must have a positive conclusion by the end of the year, stressing that Greece needs to speed up its efforts.

He noted that time is running out, pointing out that there were only two Eurogroup meetings scheduled before the end of the year (end of November and December 8) and that some decisions will need to be adopted by national parliaments. “If the completion of the fifth review is not ambitious, it will be pretty difficult to persuade certain member-states to continue funding the Greek economy,” the official said.

Regarding the "open" issues still under negotiation, the official noted there could be “relative flexibility” on the part of the member-states but that this would be "restricted”, in the sense that the implementation of some issues could be postponed until 2015. While the troika realises - up to a point - that it's not possible to do everything in three weeks, there has to be a clear and specific timetable, he stressed.

According to the official, the troika is not entirely satisfied with the 2015 draft budget and believes there is a fiscal gap. He noted that any fiscal gap in the budget will increase Greece’s financing needs in 2015. He concluded by saying that the issue of the Greek debt's sustainability must be resolved by the end of the year.