ATHENS (AFP) – EU and IMF officials were reporting on Thursday the results of a two-week audit into Greek finances which will determine whether the debt-hit nation can unlock fresh funds from a massive bailout loan.
The team of inspectors from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund were to announce their findings at an early morning press conference, an IMF statement said.
The quarterly review is the first since the Socialist government committed itself to a tough austerity regime in May in order to access the 110-billion-euro loan and avert a looming debt default.
Greek officials appeared confident this week that progress in slashing a public deficit over four times the allowed EU level would permit the release of the second instalment of the loan, worth nine billion euros (11.8 billion dollars), next month.
A first 20-billion-euro payment was made in May. Another nine billion euros have been earmarked for December depending on Greece's efforts.
The finance ministry says it has so far exceeded targets by reducing the budget deficit by 46 percent in the first six months of the year, though the collection of revenues still lags behind expectations.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the eurogroup of finance ministers from the 16 countries which share the euro, on Tuesday said he was "very pleased" with Greek measures.
But reports indicate that the EU and IMF have warned the government to step up efforts to trim waste in a host of deficit-generating institutions such as hospitals, local councils and state-owned companies.
Attention has focused on ramshackle state railways OSE which have debts of around 10 billion euros and on the majority state-owned Public Power Corporation which is deemed to have an excessive grip on the energy market.
The EU, ECB and IMF -- dubbed 'the troika' in Greece -- are expected to ask the government to open up the electricity sector, a measure that the European Commission has demanded for years.
The sale of lignite mines or hydroelectric plants currently under the PPC's exclusive control to private investors is among measures considered but the government has so far ruled this out.
"The sale of lignite or hydroelectric plants is not in question," said Greek environment and energy minister Tina Birbili.
An emergency government meeting will be held later on Wednesday to discuss alternative proposals which according to reports could include the sale of disused lignite mines.
The PPC's powerful union has threatened to pull the plug on the country to prevent the energy sector overhaul which it says will push up electricity prices for consumers.
"All of Greece will shut down", PPC union general secretary Costas Katsaros warned this week. "The company cannot be carved up," he said.
Under the terms of a memorandum with its creditors, Greece has until September to issue rules liberalising the electricity market and must vote them into law early next year.
Greek officials also have until September to open up the country's tightly-controlled road freight transport sector where the number of licenses has been frozen to around 33,000 for four decades, restricting competition.
A seven-day strike by truckers against the reform nearly dried up fuel supplies around the country last week.
Further protests are expected from other professions lined up for liberalisation including lawyers, pharmacists, notaries and engineers.
Greece appealed for the EU-IMF bailout in April after being locked out of international markets by prohibitive borrowing rates, the result of deep concerns over its economy after the Socialists revealed that budget figures had been misreported by the previous Conservative administration.