Greece, creditors disagree on foreclosures law but bailout talks on track, EU

People walk past a shuttered pharmacy during the first day of a strike by the pharmacy owners association in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Monday, October 26, 2015.

Looming over all of this is the global Monetary Fund. The IMF said it would not participate in the bailout unless Greece, plagued by years of anemic economic growth and unemployment at 25 percent, delivers the reforms it has promised; IMF officials are now in Greece reviewing its progress.

A leading European Union official says Greece’s bailout talks with its global creditors are broadly on track, but the country still has much work to do, in little time.

On a lightning visit to Athens Monday, the European Commission’s Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis urged Greek authorities to press ahead with reforms while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought concessions for the efforts Greece is being asked to make to address the refugee crisis.

The three-year, 86 billion euro ($96 billion) bailout – Greece’s third since 2010 – prevented it from crashing out of the eurozone. Bailout creditors are now reviewing the government’s compliance with the measures they had agreed upon before paying the country a 2 billion euro loan installment.

According to German newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the major issue with the Greek banks is the inability of many homeowners to pay off their loans, with an estimated 320,000 people in arrears and facing eviction.

The creditors are asking Athens to implement measures to facilitate foreclosures on principal residences, while Athens wants to continue protections for most indebted households.

Discussions were more hard on the issues of pension reform and repossession of homes. That will open the way for bailout money to recapitalize its battered banks by the end of this year. Otherwise, depositors with over 100,000 euros in the bank will be forced to take losses on their savings.

The successful conclusion of the review is a precondition to clear the way for the recapitalization and the start of talks with creditors on a debt relief to make the Greek debt load sustainable.