Athens---The United States on Friday added its voice to calls for more details on the new Greek government's reform plans, in particular how the stricken eurozone country plans to cover its 2015 "funding gap".
The US embassy in Athens said that during a visit this week, senior State Department official Amanda Sloat "congratulated" her Greek counterparts on securing a four-month extension to the debt-laden country's bailout on Tuesday.
But at the same time Sloat "requested more information on Greece's intended reform programme, how the country plans to cover its 2015 funding gap, and what the government's intentions are vis-a-vis privatisations," the embassy said in a statement.
Sloat, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, emphasised the importance of Greece providing specifics on its reform proposals as a basis for requesting greater flexibility from Greece's creditors.
To secure the four-month extension, Greece presented to creditors a six-page list of reform plans focused on tackling tax evasion and greater efficiencies in tax collection and across all areas of government.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the list as just a "starting point" while the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have also expressed reservations.
Athens has to firm up its reform commitments in the coming two months in order to receive the final tranche of its bailout, and in the meantime the government has to find billions of euros (dollars) to repay debts maturing in the coming months.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras swept to power in January promising to reverse painful austerity cuts and US President Barack Obama has expressed some sympathy, saying that countries cannot simply continue to be "squeezed".
AFP
