Hoping to rebound from more than three years of submission to demands from international lenders, Greece is hoping to achieve a primary surplus and then use that position as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB), Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said.
Speaking to SKAI TV on Sept. 4, he said that Greece is on the right track by sticking to the hard austerity formula of the Troika but that needs to be able to state some of its own terms for a recovery. Kathimerini – Greece will embark on a major negotiation with its partners and creditors, known as the troika, after a primary surplus is achieved later this year, said Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras speaking on Skai on Wednesday.
While insisting the country was on the right track, Stournaras said Greece had to stick to its adjustment program to get through a looming problem of a hole in the economy which could be as much as $11-$14 million if it wants to return to the markets late in 2014 when the Troika loans run out. Greece is surviving on $325 billion in two bailouts.
On the subject of the country’s overhaul of its defense industries, Hellenic Defense Systems and the Hellenic Vehicle Industry (ELVO) and mining company Larco, Stournaras noted that while all three have been deemed unsustainable, costing Greek taxpayers 150 million euros per year, the government was negotiating with the Troika and pushing for the companies to be liquidated while in operation.
It emerged that Troika officials had reportedly sent an email to the Greek Finance Ministry suggesting that the companies should be declared bankrupt and closed down without compensating their employees in violation of Greek laws as the lenders flex their muscles to make more cuts in pay and benefits to workers.
On the subject of heating oil Stournaras said that a tax reduction would be positive for consumers but would lead to revenue losses for the government. The government had adopted heating subsidies, Stournaras said, and was planning to change some of the requirements in an effort to render them more attractive to the public.
There will be no new taxes, said the minister, besides the changes in the property tax levied through the electricity bills and the unified property tax which have effectively doubled what people pay.
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