Courtesy of Mish.
Greece insists it has met all of the conditions for another bailout, but only one vote matters, that of the creditors who say Greece hasn’t.
One of the stickiest issues is hiking taxes on farmers.
But if tax hikes is what the creditors want, that’s what they will get. Greece should realize that by now.
Nonetheless, the bickering lingers and it will continue until Greece finally is forced out of the eurozone.
Greek Talks Break Down
Meanwhile, Denials Fly in War of Nerves Over Greek Debt Talks.
Any hope of a fresh start in fraught relations between Greece’s leftist government, purged of its most radical members, and the institutions representing its creditors, appeared to be dashed by the flurry of assertions and rebuttals.
The two sides couldn’t even agree on when the talks began.
Differences included the pace and conduct of bailout talks, whether or not Greece needs to enact further laws before a deal, the reopening of the Athens stock exchange, and the activities of former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who continues to heap abuse on the creditors in his blog.
Greek official said suggestions that Greece needed to pass further reform legislation before a bailout deal were not justified by the euro summit statement or subsequent exchanges.
However, euro zone officials made clear that Athens must enact measures to curb early retirement and close tax loopholes for farmers before any new aid is disbursed. Greece needs more finance by Aug. 20, when it owes a 3.5 billion euro payment to the European Central Bank.
Hanging over the new talks is the legacy of Varoufakis, whom Tsipras sidelined in the final phase of the talks before accepting even more stringent bailout terms this month. He continues to create problems for the premier by denouncing the bailout agreement and accusing the creditors of having treated Greece like a colony.
Uproar Over Varoufakis’ Parallel Currency Plan…
