Greece, Troika in deadlock

(Vatican Radio) Talks between Greece and its creditors ground to a deadlock last night, as the Athens government refused to budge on the Troika’s demands for mass public sector layoffs and a dismantling of labour rights.
For hours here in Athens yesterday the labour minister, Yannis Vroutsis, wrangled with the IMF envoy, Poul Thomsen, over the proposed cuts, with neither side giving an inch. Thomsen asked for time to consult with his IMF boss, Christine Lagarde. But he threatened that if the Greek government did not do as he demanded, it might not get the 31.5 billion euros in bailout money it desperately needs next month.
But for the coalition government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, a line in the sand has finally been drawn. His coalition partners, the socialists and the small democratic left party, yesterday said flatly they would not vote for the layoff measures when they come up in the Parliament later this week. This raises the spectre of a weakened government just when Samaras is exhorting Greeks to hold on for another year, after which, he promises, Greece will be on the upswing.
Greece’s creditors want to see the number of civil servants slashed by at least 50,000 on the grounds that too many are overpaid and unproductive. But this strikes at the heart of the country’s corrupt vote-buying system, which is why the politicians are digging in their heels. Yet they have a point in that if the Troika gets its way, Greece will sink yet deeper into recession and unemployment will soar above the 24 percent it stands at now.
On the other hand, the economy minister, Yannis Stournaras, who bears a lot of the burden of the tough dickering with the Troika, issued a dramatic warning yesterday. If Greece doesn’t get its next bailout, he said, it will suffer asphyxiation. In the eyes of many Greeks, though, that will happen whether the Troika gets its way or not.

Listen to the report by John Carr: