The Minister of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism Giorgos Stathakis expressed his confidence that the negotiations between the government and its European partners will conclude by the start of next week, in a Thursday-morning interview to ANT1.
Mr. Stathakis categorically rejected the allegation that the current negotiation is essentially a continuation of the bailout agreement and claimed that the agreement of the 20th of February is the basis of each discussion. He further explained that the review at the end of the extension will be based on this agreement, which will then be followed up by a new deal.
In his interview he further noted that the government will finalize its plans on ‘red loans’ over the next 5 to 6 months. Mr. Stathakis revealed that the government is geared towards establishing a public body where the red loans will be transferred. This will be for households near the poverty line and households which saw their income dramatically reduced due to the crisis.
This plan will primarily address housing loans in order to protect primary residences, but the government is considering expanding its plan to include other types of loans (such as consumer loans, credit cards etc), without however revealing any further details.
Finally, Mr. Stathakis commented on recent discussion over the VAT rates and claimed that there is some leeway for minor changes that will make the VAT more progressive and just, however these will not refer to the reduced VAT rate that currently applies to islands.
