The completion of Greece's financial sustainability report by its troika of international lenders requires a "visible outcome" of the private sector's participation in the country's debt restructuring, a spokesman for the European Commission said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the head of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, scrapped a Wednesday meeting of euro-zone finance ministers amid ongoing questions about the commitment of Greek political leaders to austerity reforms and as several technical details remained unresolved with the troika for a bailout and restructuring deal.
"It's clear that a sustainability report can't be completely finalized until there is some kind of visible outcome of the participation of the private sector," commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said Wednesday. Greece's troika of lenders comprise the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the commission.
Altafaj Tardio said Greece still has to meet its financial obligations and that a number of operations that have to take place in the private sector "take time." In addition, there are elements of the deal that require parliamentary discussion.
"We are not setting deadlines," he said, but added: "We are running out of time."
The commission said the EU hopes Greece meets the required political conditions by the Feb. 20 gathering of euro-zone finance ministers in Brussels, and that the objective is for Greece to remain in the euro
The consequences of Greece's exit from the euro area would be "devastating" for the country and "significant" for the whole European Union, though Greece's membership requires a "two-way effort," he said.
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