–Adds Additional Details About What Samaras Told Fellow EU Leaders

BRUSSELS (MNI) – Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told his
EU counterparts here this evening that an overdue E31.5 billion loan
tranche from his country’s bailout program should be paid in full – not
in installments – and as soon as possible, a senior Greek government
official said.

Speaking to fellow European heads of state and government during
the EU summit meeting, Samaras highlighted the problems caused in Greece
by the ongoing recession and skyrocketing unemployment, which has
reached 25%. He said the loan tranche should be paid in full because the
Greek economy is suffering a shortage of liquidity, the official told
Greek journalists on the sidelines of the summit.

The official also said that Samaras had briefed his counterparts on
the progress and issues still pending in negotiations with the troika,
which is comprised of officials from the European Commission, European
Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

“He made it clear that his government is committed to finishing its
task, but he highlighted that the EU should find the silver line between
fiscal discipline and growth prospects,” the official said.

“Samaras said that the Van Rompuy proposal on the issue is a good
place to start,” he said, referring to European Council President Herman
Van Rompuy. “If that proposal had been implemented from the beginning,
Greece wouldn’t be facing the problems it is facing now.”

Van Rompuy was principal author of a report earlier this year that
called for reforming governance in the EU and also said policy-makers
must not only stress deficit cutting and structural reforms but also
support initiatives to boost economic growth and jobs.

The Greek official went on to say that “the Greek government’s
target is to get a good [summit] statement on Greece that will somehow
instruct the Eurogroup to release the next tranche.” He added: “We are
working against the clock.”

With regard to the ongoing dispute between the IMF and the EU over
the assessment of Greece’s debt sustainability, the official said that
“differences still remain” but that Athens was optimistic “a compromise
will be reached.”

He added that the Greek government is planning to present the 2013
budget to parliament by November 12, when the next Eurogroup meeting
will take place.

The same official revealed that Samaras will hold a bilateral
meeting Friday morning with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Earlier Thursday, a government official told MNI that Greece was
one of the issues raised at a bilateral meeting between Merkel and
French President Francois Hollande.

–Brussels newsroom; apapamiltiadou@marketnews.com, +324-754-38314

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