Greece stays on track to reduce deficit
By Angeliki Koutantou |
February 8, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GREECE will stick to its deficit-cutting plan and the first three months of the year will be crucial for regaining the confidence of investors and the European Union, the country's finance minister said in an interview yesterday.
"As far as the budget is concerned, every day is a crucial test for us. The monthly figures we release are scrutinized by the markets and the (EU) Commission, but the first quarter will be certainly crucial," Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview published in Greek newspaper Ethnos.
"The measures we have already announced will be implemented unswervingly and will pay off," he added.
In its fiscal plan endorsed by the EU last week, Greece aims to cut its ballooning deficit to below 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2012 from 12.7 percent in 2009, the eurozone's highest.
The government has said it will cut waste in the public sector and reform taxation to achieve the target, but the EU has said it wanted further details by March 16 on the steps planned and world markets still doubted their effectiveness.
Global stock markets slumped to three-month lows last Friday, partly on fears the Greece fiscal crisis would spread to others in the EU periphery, and the euro fell to an 8-1/2 month low against the dollar.
How the government will tackle its fiscal woes is expected to be seen this week when it plans to unveil new tax and wage policy bills. Papaconstantinou said both bills will be fair.
"Under these circumstances, all of us need to contribute in a fair way, according to our capabilities, while the weakest will be protected," he said. "The plan for cutting waste in the public sector is moving in this direction and the tax bill will be moving in this direction as well."
He reiterated the bill aims to fight tax evasion and will abolish a flat-rate tax for certain professionals.
But such measures are opposed by the main labor unions, who plan to walk off their jobs later this month.
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