ATHENS: Greece state coffers had less than €800 million at the end of March, according to State Treasury figures. Greece is entering the final stage of negotiations with creditors, with practically empty coffers, as only €796.5 million were available at the end of the first quarter of 2015. In the last quarter of 2014, there were €2.574 billion in the state coffers.
The state has difficulty meeting its domestic obligations, much less repaying loan installments to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is the reason the Greek government has asked state entities such as pension funds and municipalities to “lend” their cash reserves to the Bank of Greece (BoG). According to the State Treasury, Athens needs €1.6 billion each month to pay public sector salaries and pensions, and another €900 million for payments to security funds. Adding the €300 million needed for government operational costs, Athens needs €2.8 billion each month to meet its immediate domestic obligations.
At the same time, the Greek government has stopped payments to private suppliers of goods and services, accumulating a 4.5-billion-euro debt. With the sovereign debt currently at €312 billion, Athens is desperately seeking revenues from debtors to the state and new, emergency tax measures. It should be noted that Athens has to make a 300-million-euro loan repayment to the IMF on June 6, while the total amount due to the IMF in June is €1.5 billion. Greek officials have already stated that the IMF payment cannot be made unless there is an agreement for further financial aid by then.
