ATHENS, Greece — A Greek minister in charge of reforming the country's bloated public sector said late Tuesday he will need several months to overcome delays in a staff restructuring program demanded by rescue creditors.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, appointed in a cabinet reshuffle last week, made the remarks a day after meetings with the "troika" of debt inspectors from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The government has failed to sign up any public sector employees to a new mobility scheme — which includes involuntary staff transfers — that should have included 15,000 people by the end of 2012.
The troika officials are in Athens to approve bailout loan payouts worth 8.1 billion euros ($10.6 billion) and it was unclear whether they would accept the proposed delay.
"We are talking about several months. It is clear that this cannot happen in a few days or a few weeks," Mitsotakis told private Skai television.
"That is so the job is done properly ... I am not the minister who would impose arbitrary criteria and say that everyone who is over 1.85 meters tall, is bald and wears glasses will be placed in the mobility scheme."
The government is hoping to wrap up negotiations with the troika by the weekend so that the next bailout payments can be considered at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
Debt inspectors were in talks for more than seven hours with several cabinet officials at the Finance Ministry Tuesday to discuss the civil service reductions and other pressing problems, including mounting debts at a state-backed health insurer.
