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Greece exceeds quarterly budget targets, as talks over further bailout loans linger

11 April 2013 01:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Debt-laden Greece announced on Wednesday that it exceeded the budget targets set for the first quarter of 2013 in a hopeful sign for the ailing economy, as negotiations with envoys of international creditors in Athens over the terms of the release of the next bailout aid tranche linger on, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Greece achieved a primary surplus of 508 million euros (664.8 million U.S. dollars) and a budget deficit of 1.4 billion euros in the first quarter of 2013, the Finance Ministry said, stressing both figures were better than expectations.

The positive trend is attributed mainly to drastic spending cuts implemented over the past three years as part of a painful austerity and reform program aiming to overcome the Greek debt crisis.

The announcement was made as Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras continued marathon talks with auditors from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in Athens over the next set of measures needed to unlock further rescue loans to Greece.

Greece's government hoped that Stournaras would attend the coming Eurogroup meeting this Friday with a final deal in his hands to secure the green light for the disbursement of a total of 8.8 billion euros in May.

However, according to Greek government sources on Wednesday, despite the progress achieved since the start of the latest round of talks with auditors last week, there are still pending issues which seem unlikely to be resolved in time. Therefore, negotiations are expected to drag onto next week.

The dialogue over the prerequisites for the release of the next installments of aid to Athens under bailout deals signed since May 2010, resumed after a deadlock in early March.

The thorniest issue on the table, according to local media citing government sources, remains the overhaul of the public sector. Lenders are said to insist on the immediate dismissal of some 20,000 civil servants within a year, starting from 2,000 employees accused of misconduct over the next two months.

Amidst record high jobless rates, citing legal issues, the government requests more time to push through alternative plans for the reform of civil services.