BRUSSELS (MNI) – Greece expects its parliament to vote Thursday on
the legislation for the joint Eurozone and International Monetary Fund
loan package, the Greek finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The draft legislation which is expected to be voted by Thursday in
a “fast track process” adopts the three-year economic and financial
programme developed by the Greek government together with the European
Commission, the European Central Bank, and the IMF, as well as measures
taking immediate effect,” the finance ministry said in an e-mailed
statement.
The statement said that a 2% increase in value-added tax, increases
in excise taxes on petrol, tobacco and alcohol and more reductions in
public sector wages would come in to effect immediately.
Greece’s austerity programme represents the conditionality for a
three-year financing package of E110 billion agreed on Sunday.
“The programme foresees a fiscal effort of the order of 11 GDP
points or approx. 30 billion from now until the end of 2013,” the Greek
finance ministry statement said.
“Starting with a 2009 deficit of 13.6% the 2010 overall fiscal
effort will cut the deficit by more than 5 percentage points. Measures
corresponding to 2.5% of GDP, i.e. close to 6 billion, will be added to
the current effort which includes measures exceeding 6 percentage points
of GDP,” the statement said.
It said in 2011, the overall fiscal effort will exceed 4% of GDP
and in 2012 and 2013 the fiscal effort will be of an order of 2% of GDP.
The deficit is expected to fall under the 3% threshold stipulated
by the European Union by 2014, the finance ministry said.
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
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