Dichiarazione dell'Eurogruppo sulla sitiuazione della Grecia.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/05/24-eurogroup-statement-greece/


Eurogroup statement on Greece

Eurogroup

25/05/2016
02:07

The Eurogroup welcomes that a full staff-level agreement has been 
reached between Greece and the institutions. Also, the Eurogroup notes 
with satisfaction that the Greek authorities and the European 
institutions have reached an agreement on the contingency fiscal 
mechanism, which is in line with the Eurogroup statement adopted on 9 
May in particular as regard the possible adoption of permanent 
structural measures, including revenue measures, to be agreed with the 
institutions. It therefore provides further reassurances that Greece 
will meet the primary surplus targets of the ESM programme (3.5% of GDP 
in the medium-term), without prejudice to the obligations of Greece 
under the SGP and the Fiscal Compact. 

The Eurogroup also welcomes the adoption by the Greek parliament of 
most of the agreed prior actions for the first review, notably the 
adoption of legislation to deliver fiscal parametric measures amounting 
to 3% of GDP that should allow to meet the fiscal targets in 2018, to 
open up the market for the sale of loans and to establish the agreed 
Greek Privatisation and Investment Fund that should operate in full 
independence. The Eurogroup mandates the EWG to verify in the next few 
days the full implementation of the outstanding prior actions on the 
basis of an assessment by the institutions, in particular the 
corrections to the legislation on the opening up of the market for the 
sale of loans, and on the pension reform, as well as the completion of 
all prior actions related to the government pending actions in the 
field of privatization. 

Following the full implementation of all prior actions and subject to 
the completion of national procedures, the ESM governing bodies are 
expected to endorse the supplemental MoU and approve the disbursement 
of the second tranche of the ESM programme. The second tranche under 
the ESM programme amounting to EUR 10.3 bn will be disbursed to Greece 
in several disbursements, starting with a first disbursement in June 
(EUR 7.5 bn) to cover debt servicing needs and to allow a clearance of 
an initial part of arrears as a means to support the real economy. The 
subsequent disbursements to be used for arrears clearance and further 
debt servicing needs will be made after the summer. The disbursements 
for arrears clearance will be subject to a positive reporting by the 
European Institutions on the clearance of net arrears. The additional 
disbursement for debt servicing needs will be subject to milestones 
related to privatization, including the new Privatization and 
Investment Fund, bank governance, revenue agency and energy sector to 
be assessed by the European institutions and verified by the EWG and 
the ESM Board of Directors. 

In line with the 9 May Eurogroup statement, and in view of the 
forthcoming full implementation of all the prior actions by Greece and 
completion of the first review, the Eurogroup considered today the 
sustainability of Greek public debt. 

The Eurogroup agrees to assess debt sustainability with reference to 
the following benchmark for gross financing needs (GFN): under the 
baseline scenario, GFN should remain below 15% of GDP during the post 
programme period for the medium term, and below 20% of GDP thereafter. 

The Eurogroup recalls the medium-term primary surplus target of 3.5% of 
GDP as of 2018 and underlines the importance of a fiscal trajectory 
consistent with the fiscal commitments under the EU framework. 

The Eurogroup recalls the following general guiding principles agreed 
on 9 May for possible additional debt measures: (i) facilitating market 
access in order to replace over time public financed debt with 
privately financed debt; (ii) smoothening the repayment profile; (iii) 
incentivising the country's adjustment process even after the programme 
ends; and (iv) flexibility to accommodate uncertain GDP growth and 
interest rate developments in the future. On 9 May the Eurogroup also 
reconfirmed that nominal haircuts are excluded, and that all measures 
taken will be in line with existing EU law and the ESM and EFSF legal 
frameworks. 

Guided by these principles and on the basis of technical work carried 
out by the EWG, the Eurogroup agreed today on a package of debt 
measures which will be phased in progressively, as necessary to meet 
the agreed benchmark on gross financing needs and will be subject to 
the pre-defined conditionality of the ESM programme. 

For the short-term, the Eurogroup agrees on a first set of measures 
which will be implemented after the closure of the first review up to 
the end of the programme and which includes: 
Smoothening the EFSF repayment profile under the current weighted 
average maturity
Use EFSF/ESM diversified funding strategy to reduce interest rate risk 
without incurring any additional costs for former programme countries
Waiver of the step-up interest rate margin related to the debt buy-back 
tranche of the 2nd Greek programme for the year 2017

The Eurogroup asks the EFSF and ESM management to take these measures 
forward within their mandate, on the basis of preparatory work by the 
EWG, and where needed to prepare formal decision making by the relevant 
EFSF and ESM decision-making bodies. The decision on the smoothening of 
the EFSF repayment profile and the reduction of interest rate risks 
should be taken as a matter of priority. 

For the medium term, the Eurogroup expects to implement a possible 
second set of measures following the successful implementation of the 
ESM programme. These measures will be implemented if an update of the 
debt sustainability analysis produced by the institutions at the end of 
the programme shows they are needed to meet the agreed GFN benchmark, 
subject to a positive assessment from the institutions and the 
Eurogroup on programme implementation. 
Abolish the step-up interest rate margin related to the debt buy-back 
tranche of the 2nd Greek programme as of 2018
Use of 2014 SMP profits from the ESM segregated account and the 
restoration of the transfer of ANFA and SMP profits to Greece (as of 
budget year 2017) to the ESM segregated account as an ESM internal 
buffer to reduce future gross financing needs.  
Liability management - early partial repayment of existing official 
loans to Greece by utilizing unused resources within the ESM programme 
to reduce interest rate costs and to extend maturities. Due account 
will be taken of exceptionally high burden of some Member States.
If necessary, some targeted EFSF reprofiling (e.g. extension of the 
weighted average maturities, re-profiling of the EFSF amortization as 
well as capping and deferral of interest payments) to the extent needed 
to keep GFN under the agreed benchmark in order to give comfort to the 
IMF and without incurring any additional costs for former programme 
countries or to the EFSF.

For the long-term, the Eurogroup is confident that the implementation 
of this agreement on the main features for debt measures, together with 
a successful implementation of the Greek ESM programme and the 
fulfilment of the primary surplus targets as mentioned above, will 
bring Greece's public debt back on a sustainable path over the medium 
to long run and will facilitate a gradual return to market financing. 
At the same time, the Eurogroup agrees on a contingency mechanism on 
debt which would be activated after the ESM programme to ensure debt 
sustainability in the long run in case a more adverse scenario were to 
materialize. The Eurogroup would consider the activation of the 
mechanism provided additional debt measures are needed to meet the GFN 
benchmark defined above and would be subject to a decision by the 
Eurogroup confirming that Greece complies with the requirements under 
the SGP. Such mechanism could entail measures such as a further EFSF 
reprofiling and capping and deferral of interest payments. Also, the 
Eurogroup commits to long-term technical assistance to boost Greek 
growth. 

The Eurogroup recognises that over the exceptionally long time horizon 
of assessing debt sustainability there can be no forecasts, only 
assumptions, given the sizable degree of uncertainty over macroeconomic 
developments. 

Against the background of the forthcoming successful completion of the 
first review and the agreement on debt relief, the Eurogroup welcomes 
the intention of the IMF management to recommend to the Fund's 
Executive Board to approve a financial arrangement before the end of 
2016 that will support the implementation of the agreed fiscal and 
structural reforms. It is recognised that, consistent with IMF 
policies, approval of this arrangement will also be based on a new DSA 
and the assessment of possible debt relief measures mentioned above. 
The possible debt relief will be delivered at the end of the programme 
in mid-2018 and the scope will be determined by the Eurogroup on the 
basis of a revised DSA in cooperation with the European Institutions 
for purposes of taking into account the European policy framework, 
subject to full implementation of the programme. 

The Eurogroup stands ready, in line with usual practice, to support the 
completion of future reviews provided that the policy package 
considered today, including the contingency mechanism, is implemented 
as planned.  The Eurogroup confirms that programme implementation, as 
well as policy conditionality and targets, will be reviewed regularly 
based on input from the institutions.