With the arrival of the troika representatives in Athens quickly approaching, the rumors for new fiscal measures have increased exponentially. This is in part due to the budget gap and insurance fund deficits becoming more pronounced.
The Minister of Finances Yannis Stournaras explained to Ta Nea that “there is a huge distance between no new across-the-board measures, that I support, and no measures at all”. Mr. Stournaras admitted that he will need to impose measures worth 500 million euros, contrary to the 2.5 billion euros estimated by the troika representatives.
Mr. Stournaras explained that «this 500 million euros has to come from somewhere. Since the gap problem is attributed to the insurance, we must search for that money there» and added that «if we go down the ‘no measures’ path, we risk ruining everything we have accomplished, ending all negotiations about a debt settlement«
On the contrary, the Minister of Labor Yannis Vroutsis maintains that the only measures to be implemented are the ones that have already been voted for, which includes drastic cuts to lump sums, supplementary pensions and the main pensions of so-called ‘noble’ funds.
