As the institutions suggest more pension cuts for Greeks in order to cut back on government spending, the chief of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker has spoken out against such an idea, calling for a real debt relief plan to soon be outlined by EU governments.
Junker’s comments came on the sidelines of the IMF’s spring meeting in Washington where he spoke to the euro2day.gr financial website.
“No major cuts in the pension sector should be pursued by the institutions,” Juncker said, adding that “the poor part of the Greek society – the pensioners and the retirees – are suffering…We have to acknowledge that Greece is making huge progress and it will be a bad development if we insist on major cuts in pensions.”
When he was asked about the IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, and her take on the issue of debt relief he said: “I did not get the impression that she was in total opposition to what I was telling her.”
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