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All apples of contention between Greece and its creditors are still open after two days of negotiations at the Βrussels Group level, with a new negotiating team on the Greek side. According to sources familiar with the talks, the first day saw a comprehensive discussion. Even though all contentious points between the two sides were explicitly mentioned, the atmosphere remained calm. Yet no specific agreement was reached in any of the sectors.

Yesterday, through a representative participating in the discussions in Brussels, the Greek side said the aim is to reach agreement on issues which now show signs of convergence. If such an agreement is achieved, an extraordinary meeting of the Eurogroup could be held on Monday, 4 May, which could come up with a positive opinion on the progress of negotiations.

In turn, this will allow the European Central Bank to raise the limit on treasury bills issuance, and thus temporarily alleviate Greece’s crushing liquidity problem.

This scenario, however, is not accepted by a number of European officials, with whom Kathimerini talked, as it is deemed too optimistic.

According to a high-ranking European official, both sides will have to reach the so-called ‘staff level agreement’ or at least come close enough to one, to enable the ECB to raise the bonds limit, rather than just agree on certain points, as the Greeks hope.

On Thursday, the two sides are scheduled to discuss the following topics:

1. A macroeconomic scenario for the Greek economy. The Greek economic team is forecasting growth in the range of 1.2% - 1.4% and a budget surplus of at least 1.2% of GDP for this year. To achieve such a surplus, the single real estate tax must be applied in its current form. The partners, however, believe this forecast is too optimistic as some estimates have shown stagnation for the economy in 2015, or even a slight decline.

As for the budget balance, they provide a primary deficit of 0.5% of GDP. The less optimistic scenarios project a 1% deficit.

2. Privatisation. The Greek side looks poised this year to proceed with the plans for the privatisation of the port of Piraeus, the company operating the gas network DESFA, the horse racing organization, several airports, Asteras Vouliagmenis beach in Attica, etc..

But no privatisation of the state electricity company DEI and the water and sanitation company seem to be in the cards. Therefore, achieving the privatisation revenue target of €2.2 billion for 2015 appears as a tall order. The government now believes that this year's privatisation will fetch €1.5 billion at best, but the creditors say even this is too optimistic. The two sides have disagreements over the methods to be applied as well, since Athens wishes to change the conditions in a number of cases.

3. The budget. The Government indicates that it will proceed with the single real estate tax in its present form. Targeted cuts on higher pensions are not ruled out, either. One of the stickier points is the 13th pension. The creditors insist it should be scrapped.  VAT rates are also being mooted (there are scenarios for a single-rate VAT within 15-18%). The creditors recommend new measures worth €2-3 billion, if a 1.5% budget surplus is to be achieved.