Valentina Pop | EUobserver
Officials from the troika of international lenders are back in Athens on Tuesday (24 July as the three-party government struggles to meet the spending cuts demanded in return for the bailout money.
The Greek government is several months behind on promised spending cuts and privatisations. The auditors from the EU commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are set to draw up a report on how big the shortfall is and whether Greece can still receive the next tranche of €31.5 billion in September.
Without this money, the Greek authorities will not be able to repay outstanding debt to the eurozone central bank, or salaries and pensions in the coming months.
Development minister Costis Hatzidakis on Sunday warned that the two months ahead are “the most critical” and that his country is in a “state of emergency.”
“If the current government fails, the next one will be a government of the drachma,” Hatzidakis told Ethnos daily.
The government, led by Conservative leader Antonis Samaras, took two elections and at least three months of stalled reforms to come together.
The troika further postponed its mission as Samaras was rushed into a hospital to undergo eye surgery and his first pick for a finance minister refused to take up the job amid health problems.
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