Greece, new meeting troika-Stournaras

A new meeting is scheduled this morning at 11 am in Athens between Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and representatives of the troika - Germany's Matthias Mors (EU) and Klaus Masuch (ECB) and Denmark's Poul Thmsen (IMF) - to try once more to 'close' a reform package with cuts to the budget for 2013-2014 ahead of a eurozone group meeting scheduled next Monday. Both sides want to reach an agreement as soon as possible but the issue to solve remains the extra 2.5 billion euros separating Greece from international creditors and the recession for 2013. According to media reports, the government is bracing up to more cuts to pensions and welfare, this time concerning farmers, a category which has been spared so far, in order to reach an agreement. A possible agreement between the Greek minister and representative of Greece's international creditors would be most likely followed by a meeting of parties supporting the government of Antonis Samaras.