BRUSSELS (MNI) – Work on an EMU/IMF aid package and programme for
Greece is going well and should be finished by early May, a spokesperson
for the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Representatives from the European Central Bank, the European
Commission and the International Monetary Fund are in Athens thrashing
out the terms of an aid deal for Greece which is worth up to E45 billion
this year.
A Commission spokesperson told reporters in Brussels that European
Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn had updated
his fellow commissioners on Tuesday in Brussels on “the preparation and
the work that is ongoing for the joint programme for Greece.”
“Work is going well, and that’s the message that we need to get
across,” the spokesperson said.
“The work going on in relation to the joint programme, that work
should be wrapped up in early May,” she said.
“The work is progressing and our efforts have been intensified
(since Greece formally requested aid on Friday),” she said. “The upshot
is we have to work quickly.”
The Commission expects to have proposals on the table by May 12,
she said.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]