Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was expected to take to the national airwaves on Thursday evening to essentially announce a new welfare package, three days after his finance minister exited a Eurogroup meeting with an announcement foreseeing up to a decade of high – by Greek standards – fiscal targets.
According to information gleaned by “N” hours earlier, Tsipras will reportedly announce a gradual reinstitution of a so-called “13th pension” for low-income pensioners, and on the condition that their monthly payment is under 700 euros.
Conversely, other information pointed to an expansion of a “solidarity benefit” to 250,000 families, up from the 45,000 families that receive the welfare payment today. Another possible promise is to restore a lower VAT rate for certain islands in the Aegean swamped by waves of refugees and irregular migrants landing from the opposite western Turkey coast.
The same reports state that Tsipras will declare that his government will cover the increased spending from the expected primary budget surplus that will be posted for 2016.
Given the fact that Athens has still not concluded the second review of the Greek program (third bailout), the ominous prospect of continued primary budget balances as a percentage of GDP for another decade after 2018 and the absolutely remote (2060) benefits of short-term debt relief, the report that Tsipras will appear live on television generated heightened speculation over snap elections in the country.
