Subject: Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-04 From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" CONTENTS [01] We are on track for convergence, gov't spokesman Tzanakopoulos says [02] Government aims to conclude review as soon as possible, State Min Vernadakis tells ANA [03] Time is money, EU Parliament VP Papadimoulis says --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01] We are on track for convergence, gov't spokesman Tzanakopoulos says "We are on track for convergence as regards the Greek programme," State Minister and government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Saturday said in an interview with 'Ependisi' newspaper. He underlined that the government is working hard to reach a technical agreement and conclude the second programme review as soon as possible. Tzanakopoulos also stressed that a staff level agreement can be achieved by the next Eurogroup on March 20. Then the medium-term measures on debt must be determined so that the Greek bonds can participate in ECB's quantitative easing programme, he said, and expressed the hope that good news will soon be announced on the debt issue. He also ruled out the possibility of additional measures after 2018. [02] Government aims to conclude review as soon as possible, State Min Vernadakis tells ANA State Minister Christoforos Vernadakis on Saturday in an interview with the Athens Macedonian News Agency (ANA) underlined that the government's aim is to conclude the programme review as soon as possible. He also dismissed reports on additional measures after 2018 or even today. This is not true .... this is not on the negotiating table, he cleared out. Vernadakis accused the main opposition New Democracy and PASOK party for the current situation. As for New Democracy, he said that it behaves as "a fifth column, even when party members are abroad." He also accused PASOK of being responsible fo the crisis of 2010 as well as the presence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the country. [03] Time is money, EU Parliament VP Papadimoulis says Time is money, European Parliament Vice President Dimitris Papadimoulis on Saturday posted on Twitter. The technical agreement can and must be concluded by March 20 with mutual concessions, he added.