Greece's finance minister has said he expects greater private sector involvement in a new deal for the country.
EU, IMF and ECB mission chiefs have met Evangelos Venizelos this morning with the intention of concluding talks on a key aid tranche.
Speaking after the talks, Mr Venizelos said that Greece expected an improved deal on the one agreed at a euro zone summit in July.
"After a long series of talks and meetings with representatives of the troika, we have concluded the circle of scheduled meetings and the mission is expected to be concluded by tomorrow," Mr Venizelos said.
He said that he expected “PSI (private sector involvement) plus”, referring to a bond maturity rescheduling scheme agreed by the European Union with the country's private sector banking creditors.
The Troika mission chiefs are likely to issue a joint statement today or tomorrow, to conclude their visit.
Once this is done, inspectors will prepare reports for euro zone finance ministers and the IMF's board, who will decide on the aid tranche.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will meet European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Thursday, his office said in a statement. The two spoke by telephone today.
"The prime minister will meet with EU Council President at 10.15 am in Brussels," the statement said.
Athens could run out of cash as soon as mid-November without the new €8 billion aid instalment, increasing the risk of a default that would drag the euro zone deeper into a debt crisis already shaking financial markets worldwide.
Senior officials from the so-called Troika said last week they expected to conclude their review soon but first wanted to receive more details on the implementation and impact of plans to slash the public sector workforce and increase taxes to plug a bigger-than-targeted fiscal gap.
Greece has no plans to nationalise more of the country's banks and welcomes a Franco-German plan to recapitalise banks, the government's spokesman said today.
"It is a very positive decision to recapitalise banks," government spokesman Ilias Mossialos told reporters.
