Back in January, Tsipras’ government had reached an agreement with employers to raise their contributions to the insurance system. Nevertheless, the I.M.F. strongly opposes this measure and its representatives have expressed their intention to leave Athens on Friday. However, a governmental source said that the Greek team “wishes to keep them here until there is a common understanding”. In the mid-time, another executive of the Greek government commented that there is a “margin of two to three days to reach a deal”.
 
EU: An agreement is yet to be reached
 
On the other hand, sources from the European Commission have been noting that “the negotiation is still fluid” and that “we are still far away from reaching an agreement”.
Last night, minister of Finance Eucleides Tsakalotos had a meeting with Declan Costello, the representative of the European Commission. A Greek source said that a new proposal regarding income tax has been submitted; lenders have already responded with comments on it and the Greek side has proposed new modifications. 

George Katrougalos, minister of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity has been negotiating with the international lenders with focus on the insurance system. Sources from the ministry have been expressing the wish for a conclusive deal that will include measures of up to 0.5% of GDP for 2016 and another 0.5% for 2017 without, at the same time, any further reductions to pensions. 

This new round of negotiations was not scheduled and is taking place instead of a series of meetings between the international lenders and the ministry of Education.