ATHENS (MNI) – Greece’s government is set to announce new austerity
measures intended to help it meet its fiscal targets for this year and
2012, government spokesman Elias Mossialos said Wednesday evening
following a six-hour cabinet meeting here.
The government could unveil the new measures next Monday, Mossialos
said, speaking to reporters in Parliament. Greece’s international
lenders, frustrated at Athens’ inability to meet the conditions of its
aid program, are insisting on additional spending cuts in exchange for
the next tranche of Greece’s bailout loan, worth E8 billion.
Among the new measures to be announced, Mossialos said, is an
increase in the number of civil servants who will be suspended and put
on partial pay, to 30,000 this year from 20,000. In addition, monthly
retirement pensions exceeding E1,200 will be subject to new cuts, as
will the pensions of people under the age of 55.
Mossialos said the tax-free limit on annual income will drop to
E5,000 from the current threshold of E8,000, which was cut just a few
months ago from E12,000.
No further details of the new measures were given. A government
source said that Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos had objected to
making an official announcement at this juncture because, “it would
prejudice his negotiation tactics ahead of the IMF meeting in DC this
weekend.”
Greece is expected over the weekend to discuss its new plan with
officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and
the IMF — the so-called “troika.”
The head troika inspectors will arrive for an official inspection
on Monday, and there is a significant chance that some of the measures
might be changed or updated, so an official announcement was not
appropriate at present, the source said.
–Angelika Papamiltiadou, a_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com
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