24 Mar 2015
Greece talks: Another small step to end the political thaw – ING
FXStreet (Barcelona) - Carsten Brzeski of ING, comments on yesterday’s Merkel-Tsipras meeting, noting that the meeting in Berlin did not produce any new results but could have been another small step towards the end of the latest political ice age.
Key Quotes
“In their first bilateral meeting, German Chancellor Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Tsipras tried to smooth earlier tensions between their two countries, possibly preparing the grounds for a workable compromise in the current Greek conflict.”
“It was a bit strange that the two government leaders talked to the press between two meetings and not at the end of the day. However, judging from the press conference, both leaders seem to be willing to bury the hatchet their finance ministers and parts of the media have been wielding for quite some time.”
“Similar to last week’s late-night meeting, nothing has changed regarding the substance of the conflict. Greece still needs to deliver credible economic reforms, which then will be assessed by the institutions formerly known as the Troika. Only a positive assessment will trigger the payment of the outstanding tranches of the current bailout programme. Thereafter, the negotiations on a third bailout programme (or any other title) and the issue of Greek debt sustainability will have to be started.”
“All in all and as expected, yesterday’s meeting was not a great breakthrough in the Greek crisis. However, it might have been another small step towards the end of the recent political thaw.”
Key Quotes
“In their first bilateral meeting, German Chancellor Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Tsipras tried to smooth earlier tensions between their two countries, possibly preparing the grounds for a workable compromise in the current Greek conflict.”
“It was a bit strange that the two government leaders talked to the press between two meetings and not at the end of the day. However, judging from the press conference, both leaders seem to be willing to bury the hatchet their finance ministers and parts of the media have been wielding for quite some time.”
“Similar to last week’s late-night meeting, nothing has changed regarding the substance of the conflict. Greece still needs to deliver credible economic reforms, which then will be assessed by the institutions formerly known as the Troika. Only a positive assessment will trigger the payment of the outstanding tranches of the current bailout programme. Thereafter, the negotiations on a third bailout programme (or any other title) and the issue of Greek debt sustainability will have to be started.”
“All in all and as expected, yesterday’s meeting was not a great breakthrough in the Greek crisis. However, it might have been another small step towards the end of the recent political thaw.”