Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday evening clarified that his party will not vote for the latest round of austerity measures agreed to with institutional lender nor for countervailing measures to be implemented if whatever Greek government is in power in 2019 and 2020 meets creditor-mandated fiscal targets.
“What was agreed to, in essence, is a fourth memorandum, one that does not include financing,” he repeated in comments to an Athens-based television station.
“Creditors were not asking for additional measures, that was the cost of the delay,” Mitsotakis said, in reference to the more than year-old delay in nearing a conclusion for the second review of the Greek program (third bailout) via negotiations between the Tsipras government and creditors.
He also reiterated that the still recession-battered Greek economy cannot continue to post primary budget surpluses of 3.5 percent on an annual basis, a regime that appears likely to be extended to beyond 2018, when the current bailout program ends in August of that year.
