The government’s decision to introduce a legislative act to seize cash reserves from public sector and local government bodies has caused major controversy; some have suggested that the act is retroactive in order to cover “irregularities” that were previously carried out.
At the forefront of the clash between the government and opposition is the district governor of Attica Rena Dourou, according to former New Democracy MP and Interior Minister Yannis Michelakis, who told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency that she illegally financed her district with about 80 million euros. Questions regarding Mr. Michelakis’ allegations have also been raised by the president of the central union of municipalities (KEDE) Giorgos Patoulis.
To Vima contacted the Deputy Governor of Attica in charge of finances Christos Karamanos, who vehemently rejected the allegations from New Democracy and argued that the charges are “for obvious oppositional purposes”. Mr. Karamanos explained that the districts funds were spread across 99 bank accounts in commercial banks with a 0.3% interest rate, before being collected in the Bank of Greece, with a 2.5% interest rate.
When asked to comment on the government’s decision to collect all available resources and whether he found anything negative with it, Mr. Karamanos referred to cases where municipalities had their funds in accounts with greater interest rates that those offered by the Bank of Greece or in futures accounts. The deputy governor commented that funds in futures accounts would be dealt with when they expire.
