After marathon discussions with the troika, the coalition government is about to finalize the detail of the midterm financial stability program for the 2015-2018 period, which will be presented at noon in Parliament on Wednesday. According to Minister of Finances Yannis Stournaras, the aim is to vote on the program by Monday, when the Eurogroup will be discussing the possibility of debt relief for Greece.
On Wednesday morning, the deputy Ministry of Finances Christos Staikouras, along with Philippos Sahinidis and a group of PASOK MPs will go over the plans at the State Treasury.
The new midterm program is rumored to include freezing government expenses up to 2018 as well as carrying out cuts in the public sector worth 1 billion euros, with an emphasis on curbing waste. The program also aims to increase tax revenue without increasing taxes, in order to achieve a 4.5% GDP primary surplus rate in 2016.
Despite the optimism emanating from recent financial developments in Greece, many government officials have serious doubts regarding the 4.5% primary surplus goal, considering that the European Commission predicts a 0.6% growth rate in 2014, which is expected to increase to 2.9% in 2015 and 3.7% in 2016.
