Greeks rankled by finance plan
Proposed austerity measures scorned
ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s left-wing government launched a frantic 24-hour effort late Tuesday to push more austerity measures through Parliament and meet demands from European creditors as it faced down mounting anger at home.
The belt-tightening measures, which include pension cuts and higher sales tax rates, were agreed upon with eurozone leaders to prevent the Greek economy from collapsing, and as part of a planned third bailout worth 85 billion euros ($94 billion).
The new measures mean economically battered Greeks will pay more for most goods and services by the end of the week.
Hard-liners in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ own Syriza party were in open revolt, and unions and trade associations representing civil servants, municipal workers, pharmacy owners and others called or extended strikes to coincide with today’s Parliament vote.
Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said lead eurozone lender Germany and its allies had acted like “financial assassins” by forcing the deal on Athens, and urged Tsipras to reject it.
“The deal is unacceptable,” Lafazanis said in a statement. “It may pass through Parliament … but the people will never accept it and will be united in their fight against it.”
In an interview on state TV, Tsipras said he would not step down, despite the open dissent within his own Cabinet and party. “I will not run away from my responsibilities,” he said.
He also criticized the deal, but said it was the best Greece could get.
Tsipras’ coalition partner, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, also bitterly denounced the new deal.
“There was a coup. A coup in the heart of Europe,” said Kammenos, who heads the right-wing Independent Greeks party.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said Greece’s finances were even more dire than previously reported. The IMF said Greece’s debts would peak over the next two years at 200 percent of the country’s economic output; earlier it had said the debt burden would peak last year at 177 percent. The IMF now says Greece needs more debt relief and 85 billion euros in new financing (up from an earlier estimate of around 60 billion euros) through 2018.
Greece faces a deadline Monday to repay 4.2 billion euros ($4.6 billion) to the European Central Bank. It is also in arrears on 2 billion euros to the IMF.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will meet today in Frankfurt with European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi about the Greek crisis. On Thursday, he will meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin.