The Greek government finalized decisions over a 2011 budget plan after a meeting between Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou and EU-ECB-IMF Troika officials in Athens on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Lucas Papademos who is a former European Central Bank Vice President and currently an adviser to Prime Minister George Papandreou.
The budget will be tabled to Parliament on Thursday.
Finance Ministry officials said an additional fiscal adjustment, following an upwards revision of the countryâs fiscal deficit for 2009 and 2010, would be made fully in 2011. The fiscal deficit is expected to be cut from 22 billion euros to 17 billion euros.
The memorandum that was signed with the EU, ECB and IMF, already envisages measures to cut the deficit worth 9.15 billion euros. Additional measures are expected to be included in the new budget; measures aimed to save an additional 3.5-4.0 billion euros. These measures will focus mainly on further cuts in public spending and will not mean more decreases in salaries and pensions, the Finance Ministry reassured.
(source: ana-mpa)
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