Govt beams over short-term debt relief; opposition fumes

A statement issued by the Greek prime minister’s office in the wake of Monday’s Eurogroup referred to the debt relief portion of the Eurogroup’s decision as a “significant success” and yet another “decisive step” to extricate the Greek economy from the recession.

The short-term measures are expected to slash some 45 billion euros off the country’s debt load, or 22 percent of GDP, but over a horizon stretching to far off 2060.

In terms of the other pending issues bedeviling the Tsipras government’s negotiations with creditors, the statement says Athens remains opposed to the “unacceptable” demands by creditors over labor market liberalization and in keeping fiscal targets at high levels after 2018 for another 10 years.

“We did not back down, however, to extreme demands by the IMF for additional measures after the end of the (bailout) program,” the announcement read.
In a diametrically opposite tone, main opposition New Democracy (ND) party referred to the “cost of the government’s inadequacy, which will again be painful for Greek society.”

The center-right party reminded that no conclusion to the second review of the Greek program was announced and that a fiscal gap for 2018 remains open, something the party said will have to been covered by new austerity measures. ND also charged that the leftist Greek government is committed to meeting high primary budget surplus targets after 2018 via new measures and an automatic spending cuts mechanism.

It a curt reaction, the leader of the centrist Potami party, Stavros Theodorakis, Tweeted that the “debt will be renegotiated by the 2030 generation. We’ll be paying emergency new taxes of 2.6 billion euros; new lost generations (will arise), with the signature of the SYRIZA-AN.EL government.”  

PASOK was biting in its reaction, charging that high fiscal targets and accompanying austerity “will remain for a few more years”.