Stathakis and Tsakalotos under major pressure from the institutions

The meeting between the Ministers f Economy and Finances - Giorgos Stathakis and Euclid Tsakalotos - with the institutions on Wednesday lasted about nine hours.

Reports indicate that the institutions – the European Commission, European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism and International Monetary Fund – have rejected the government’s pension system reform plans. The climate was said to be “explosive”, since the ‘quartet’ showed no intention of back down on fiscal targets or the pension reform plans.

The IMF made a counter-proposal which is said to be radically different to the government’s plans, as it does not include the ‘national pension’. The institutions have also rejected the government proposal to raise insurance contributions by 1.5%.

A meeting with the Minister of Labor Giorgos Katrougalos, which was initially planned for Wednesday, has been scheduled for 2pm on Thursday, on the sidelines of the general strike and major demonstrations against the pension reform.

Meanwhile, SYRIZA’s political secretariat held a meeting on Tuesday evening in order to discuss the developments and negotiations with the creditors and partners. Rumors suggest that some party officers called for SYRIZA to leave the government, as it will be unable to pass the harsh measures proposed by the creditors.