The head of the Greek Parliament’s Budget Office on Tuesday appeared optimistic over the prospects of the primary budget surplus for 2018 reaching 4.5 percent of GDP, a figure that would exceed the creditor-mandated goal by one percentage point.
The head of the Greek Parliament’s Budget Office on Tuesday appeared optimistic over the prospects of the primary budget surplus for 2018 reaching 4.5 percent of GDP, a figure that would exceed the creditor-mandated goal by one percentage point.
At the same time, Frangiskos Koutentakis warned of “fiscal pressure” from possible legal decisions ordering a return of pension cuts. He also said a sluggish rate of covering state arrears to the private sector is a long-standing problem, despite the fact that adequate liquidity is now recorded in state coffers.
Referring to a pending return of ANFA and SMP profits to Greece, something that requires the country to meet certain post-bailout obligations to creditors by the end of the year, Kountetakis said a failure to receive the 600 million euros will entail a “particularly negative message”.
Kountetakis was appointed as the new head of Parliament's independent Budget Office last March, after a majority vote by committee members elected from the two current coalition partners, leftist SYRIZA and the small right-wing Independent Greeks (AN.EL).