The government has clarified that its primary surplus target for 2015 is 1.2% to 1.5% GDP, in response to the circulation of a “working document” suggesting a 3% rate instead. Government sources also noted that the leaked list of reforms is not an agreement, but rather a “working document”.

Additionally, the government sources explained that any measures that will be agreed with the country’s creditors and partners will not be recessionary and will rather aim to expand the tax base, so that the burden does not fall on the “usual suspects”, namely clerks, pensioners and the middle class.

Furthermore, the government sources stress that the Eurogroup agreement of the 20th of February stipulates that “the obligation for excessively high surpluses is a thing of the past”. Should the government managed to accumulate greater surpluses than the ones it will set as goals, the excess funds will be diverted back the social actions.

Finally, the government sources repeated that the ENFIA tax will be replaced by a Large Property Tax within 2015 and that a new tax law, which will include a tax-free threshold of 12,000 euros and which will come into effect in 2016, will be introduced in the second half of the year.