In other Greek news: The Troikans Poul Thomsen (IMF) and Matthias Morse (EU) had to leave the building of the Greek Finance Ministry from a back door. Cleaning personnel on “mobility scheme” and Development Ministry personnel protesting the dismissal of their colleagues had blocked the main entrance of the ministry and four elevators, they shouted and chanted anti-austerity and anti-Troika slogans in Greek and English like Troika Go Home.
Some protesters had taken place outside the office of Minister Yiannis Stournaras but the majority of them was lurking Thomsen & Co on the street. The lenders’ representative had no other way but to quickly hush in the car and slide from a back door of the ministry amid “boos” and “shoos” from the angry cleaning personnel
Video: booing the Troika
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
KTG reporter on the spot claimed that Thomsen & Co were holding their breath in order to avoid been heard by the angry crowd. The claim is not being confirmed.
With protesters making an incredible noise, Greece’s lenders’ representatives talked with Stournaras on the usual stuff: privatizations, additional austerity measures of 2.8 billion euro, social security reform, taxes, taxes, taxes, lay-offs in the public sector and the demolition of Greek defense industries.
While the so-called “tough negotiation” with the Troika – which normally ends with Greece giving in and falling into the battle field – was taking place, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had already sent his determined message to the Troika:
PM Antonis Samaras: No new horizontal measures, no new pensions and wages cuts
In a rare television interview to private Mega TV, Samaras expressed his frustration with the country’s international lenders over the size of an expected fiscal gap next year, which the troika has said will be much larger than Athens anticipates. “The troika had told us that it did not expect any fiscal issues in 2014… Now it is suddenly telling us that there are, while the economy is only doing better,” Samaras said.
Greece’ prime minister continued explaining the fiscal gaps, the real and fictious primary surpluses and all these nice things I am not able to write about because in the three and a half years of this blog, all forecasts and predictions of the Troika and the past, current and future Greek governments end in driving the Greek ship straight to the rocks.
And while some Greeks were applauding the citizen who threw a handful of euro coins to IMF’s Thomsen, som other Greeks – students, in this case- were closing the office door of Education Minister with books.
In case you didn’t know there is immense trouble between Education Minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos on one side and university professors and personnel on dismissal and students on the other side. Yes, for many years, university and higher education teachers had built their little kingdoms in the higher education institutions of the country, but as usual the so-called ‘structural reforms’ in the debt-ridden country are not reforming at all, they are superficial and and up like an elephant in a porcelain shop. With lay-offs in personnel.
Nobody cares about health and education, or providing the citizens with adequate services. It’s all about cuts with a hammer.
In other Greek news today, “a selected unit of Financial Crimes Units (SDOE), will get access to private bank accounts and seize what the debtor owes to the state and tax office,” daily Eleftherotypia reported. Without warning, without cooperation with the banks.
Greek media reported today that the Greek economic authorities imposed a total of 17.3 billion euro in fines and penalties for taxation (14.6 billion euro) and customs violations (2.7 billion euro). Collected have been just 800 million euro. According to these reports, businesses and natural persons owe to the state 62 billion euro.
At the same time a gorgeous report comes from the European Commission. In it’s forecast report for 2014, it ‘sees’ for Greece growth of 0.6% (recession at 4%) and unemployment at 26% -from 27% in 2013.
PS 62 billion euro internal debt + 300something billion euro external debt? LOL
