Regarding the negotiations, the government is facing the demands of its European partners about a flat VAT higher than 18% while it is trying to secure that this will not be imposed during the current tourist season.
Within the government ranks discussions are rife, as a coalition of MPs who are unwilling to vote for a new memorandum, if this is to be beyond their acceptable limits, is slowly forming. During the weekend, the PM met with Dimitris Papadimoulis (MEP) while there have been many rumors about meetings between Varoufakis (Minister of Finance), Kostantopoulou (President of Parliament) Pappas (Minister of State) and various others in many combinations.
The IMF document which was brought to light by Kostas Efimeros in TPP and Paul Mason in Channel 4 made an international sensation and forced Mrs. Lagarde to state that the document does not come from the IMF as it was created by its Italian think tank. Obviously, this does nothing to alter its actual meaning and the President of IMF makes no effort to say that it is false. It is also a rather amusing attempt, as we happen to know the document’s route.
The most important clue that comes out of this leak is that it exposes the difference of opinion between the IMF and our European partners. It thus becomes obvious that they differ both in the actual numbers that the Europeans consider and accept as real as well as the imposed policies. The IMF clearly thinks that the recessionary measures are not going to bring any kind of financial growth
Today a lot will become clear. The flow of information will begin with the government briefing at noon, while the night will be even more interesting with Kostas Lapavitsa’s interview on TPP at 9:00 pm, followed by Gianis Varoufakis oh STAR at 11:30 p.m.
In terms of information, Monday promises to be full. In terms of good financial news, while the Brussels Group keeps meeting, things might not be that optimistic.