“The risk of bankruptcy in Greece is still existent,” Fotis Kouvelis, leader of Democratic Left and coalition government partner, warned on Thursday. Speaking to private Skai TV Kouvelis said, “It is an extremely difficult situation, we are in deep recession and nothing is given.”
Talking about a comprehensive government plan for the next four years, he underlined that the aim of the Greek government is to renegotiate with the country’s lenders and persuade the Troika to give Greece more time to meet fiscal targets.
“We demand extension. Things should be considered in the context of the deep recession plaguing our country, then like that the measures will not be effective,” Kouvelis said.
He added that the government want to avoid cuts in the salaries of the so-called ‘special payrolls’ [ judges, state hospitals doctors, military personnel etc] as this employees have already suffered wages cuts.
He reiterated that there would be no additional measures for 2012. “We are looking for equivalent measures of 3 to 3.5 billion euro [missed deficit target of 2012].”
Kouvelis stressed that 8 billion euro out of the total of 11.5 billion euro in spending cuts for 2013-2014 have been identified. “There will be no horizontal cuts,” he said adding “We try to avoid cuts in social benefits.”
PS As if ‘special payrolls’ employees are the only ones that have suffered cuts and have to be protected…
