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Greece gets hard time over reform plan

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - 02:14

Technical talks between finance experts from Athens and Greece's international creditors will start on Wednesday with the aim of unlocking further funding. As Sonia legg reports the euro zone is becoming increasingly frustrated with Athen's lack of progress on reform.

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Another telling off from euro zone finance ministers provoked a predictable response. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK FINANCE MINISTER, YANIS VAROUFAKIS, SAYING: "There has been no time wasted, not by the Greek government." But Yanis Varoufakis does have his work cut out A technical review of Athen's reform plans is about to start and they'll be no new funding until Greece plays ball. Commerzbank's Peter Dixon says it's clear the euro group is in no mood to compromise (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER DIXON, GLOBAL FINANCIAL ECONOMIST, COMMERZBANK, SAYING: "They've set out their stall, they've told Greece exactly what they are going to agree too. The Greeks have obviously got their own position which is backed by the electorate and we are coming to a point at which unless somebody blinks and finds some form of compromise things could turn very nasty." The review will be much like the one carried out by the so-called troika. But don't mention that word in Greece - the hated institution some believe helped bring down the old government. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK FINANCE MINISTER, YANIS VAROUFAKIS, SAYING: "We shall endeavour to do whatever it takes in order to provide the institutions with the information that they need. We shall give them access, full access to the officials that they need to talk to, but that system, that pattern, that aesthetic, that power play that we call the troika is finished, it's history, it's done with." But could Greece's membership of the euro be heading the same way? Baader Bank's Robert Halver. (SOUNDBITE) (German) CAPITAL MARKET ANALYST FROM BAADER BANK, ROBERT HALVER, SAYING: "The clocks are ticking very loudly. We need clear decisions before June. By then, the list of reforms has to be implemented. Otherwise, the euro zone can't hand out new money for credibility reasons. And then we'll have a problem and the euro zone won't be complete anymore." The review will look at tax receipts and public spending. But it's thought the cuts will be less severe than the troika's. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER DIXON, GLOBAL FINANCIAL ECONOMIST, COMMERZBANK, SAYING: "What we really need are measures to boost growth and that requires some form of structural reform perhaps in the labour market in order to drive the Greek economy forward." As for debt - even Varoufakis seems to have once believed Greece would never be able to fully repay its creditors. In a documentary shown in Germany he reportedly called his country the most bankrupt in the world.