After New Democracy came second in the European elections behind the leaders of the opposition, the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras claimed that he “received the message” against the government’s financial policy of austerity and hinted towards an extensive cabinet reshuffle.
As expected, the Minister of Finances Yannis Stournaras has found himself at the center of a rumor mill suggesting that he might be reappointed as Governor of the Bank of Greece.
Mr. Stournaras himself has consistently faced hard criticism from the opposition parties, however in more recent times he has been criticized by members of the coalition government. The Minister believes that he has been targeted unjustifiably and claims to have provided a solution for the sustainability of the public debt and that Greece is now a path to growth that will increase employment.
Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes rumors and discussions has meant that serious matters related to financial policy have frozen, despite time running. Greece must carry out a number of actions in order to collect loan installments in June and July.
Amongst these actions are finalizing a controversial draft bill on coastline, abolishing third-part levies, merging all supplementary pension funds and introduce a zero-deficit clause for all funds and legislate for the creation of a “mini DEI” which will be privatized.
