Both the IMF and a European Commission spokesperson agreed that there has been important progress in talks with Greece on tax and pension reforms that are part of a package of measures Athens must adopt to win new loans.

Sunday night, a European Commission spokesperson commented: “The mission has been productive. Significant progress has been made on the income tax reform”.
“The mission made important progress on key aspects of the pension reform. Work is ongoing and will continue over the Easter break. The mission chiefs will return to Athens on April 2 to resume the discussions with a view to conclude them as soon as possible”

Inspectors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund left Athens on Sunday, taking a break for the Catholic Easter holidays.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras would prefer to wrap up the reform review before April 11th when the next Euro Working Group is scheduled to take place. Provided there is an agreement with the international lenders on the reforms and other matters attached to Greece’s loans, Alexis Tsipras hopes to open the discussion on debt relief. 

But tension has been rising between the IMF and the Greek government, as well as the lenders themselves. The government, which has a parliamentary majority of just three seats, has pledged to trim its pension budget by 1 percent of GDP this year since it wants to avoid cutting pensions for the 12th time since 2010. So far the negotiating team of the Greek ministry of Finance has failed to overcome IMF’s objections, despite a number of proposals such as a new tax increase on fuel, property and income.