Minutes before the start of a scheduled extraordinary Eurogroup meeting, President Jean-Claude Juncker stated that the event was a good opportunity to reach an agreement.

However, Juncker then claimed not to be entirely sure that a deal would take place tonight.

"We must still reach an understanding on several details and I would expect that the chances are good that we will come to a final and joint solution this evening. But I'm not entirely certain... about the matter," he said.

The contradictory statements did not do much to hint at whether the Eurogroup and International Monetary Fund would be able to settle their differences on Greece and unblock the payment of the next bailout tranche.

The European Union wants to give Greece more time to meet its deficit targets and is against taking any losses on Greek debt. Meanwhile, IMF chief Lagarde sees the 'debt haircut' as a viable option to make Greece's debt more sustainable.

The latest statements suggest that policymakers have not yet reached middle ground.

Reuters noted that Eurozone finance ministers are likely to approve the next tranche of loans even if a deal on debt reduction is not yet reached. Even so, it would be unlikely for Greece to get the money until December 5th.

Reuters set out the following timetable:

November 20th: A "political endorsement in principle" on unfreezing loans to Athens after Greece completed almost all the reforms that were required.

November 28th: International lenders will check if the remaining reforms are in place.

November 30th: Once a deal is done, proposals on how to cut Greek debt and provide additional financing can be sent to national parliaments for approval.

December 3rd: A final decision to pay the next tranche to Athens.

December 4th: Greece and the European Commission would then sign a revised memorandum of understanding.

December 5th: Greece would finally get the money. The country could receive a total of €44bn after having missed two tranche payments because of the suspension of the programme.

MG

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