Cuts in Greek pensions were not legal or even necessary, stated European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre MoscoviciĀ on Tuesday. In his remarks to a meeting of the Eurogroup, he stressed that the ”Greek people’s sacrifices are now bearing fruit”.
“We believe that Greece will achieve the primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP,” Moscovici noted, adding that the Greek government is planning to achieve this goal without implementing the legislated pension cuts.
”I always maintained [the position] that the pension cuts were neither legal nor necessary” said the EU Commissioner. He remarked that “I am glad we prevented further cuts in pensions by 14 percent for 1.4 million pensioners in Greece”.
European Stability Mechanism (ESM) chief Klaus Regling agreed that Greece is on the right track and added that it is now clear that the country is out of the financial restructuring program.
Regling underlined that the two key issues for the Eurogroup are the strengthening of Greece’s growth prospects and the meeting of the agreed targets for primary surpluses. These are theĀ main areas on which the fiscal policies of the Greek government are currently being assessed.
You can watch Moscovici’s entire press conference here:
š„ āTonight we have taken some important steps for the eurozone along what is a long and difficult roadā #DeepeningEMU – #Eurogroup press conference š https://t.co/weZO9dr6iE
— Pierre Moscovici (@pierremoscovici) December 4, 2018
With information from A.M.N.A.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
