Press Review December 12

The troika drives a hard bargain over absolutely everything; 60% of the workforce is jobless; no denial over troika’s ‘freeze all new pensions’ email; big delays over power reconnections of vulnerable households and the amount of outstanding debts to state continues to balloons to all-time record levels.

FOSPHOTOS / Panayiotis Tzamaros. Poul Thomsen of International Monetary Fund arriving at the Finance ministry for a meeting with Greek Finance minister Yannis Stournaras in Athens, on December 11, 2013

The Press Project
12 Δεκεμβρίου 2013 | 10:59:13

	ETHNOS Hard Negotiations With Troika Over Everything Home Auctions: They agree with the transitional period, a sticking point is the criteria for exemptions Property tax: A green light for the draft legislation, objections over €200 mln gap Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS) & VAT: Number of layoffs and 13% for restaurants still not settled The government’s negotiations with the troika are turning into a tug of war. The lenders are leaving little room for convergence and as a result the exhausting negotiations are dragging on. On the issue of the ban on foreclosed home auctions, the discussions are focused on the criteria and conditions [that homeowners would have to meet to be protected]. The other side is insisting that the income threshold be lowered.
	ELEFTHEROTYPIA I Don’t Have A Job, I Don’t Pay 60% of active population jobless 3,183,477 owe money to the state €62.8 bln – total of outstanding debts Unemployment levels hitting 27.4% during September – a month during the tourist season – and the record 60% of Greeks of working age without a job, demonstrate the severity of the economic crisis and the huge error of Memorandum policies, At the same time 500,000 taxpayers declared during 2013 an inability to pay their debts to the state, at a time when outstanding debts have reached €63 bln. Only one in ten receives unemployment benefits.
	ΚΑΤΗΙΜΕRΙΝΙ Delays in power reconnections for 2,000 vulnerable households The government, the Regulatory Authority for Energy and the Public Power Corporation (PPC) are rushing to implement as an act of charity (and a badly designed one at that) that which has been required by law for the supply of electricity to vulnerable households since April of 2013. It is characteristic that approximately 2,000 households that qualify for social support under the measure, the most vulnerable of the vulnerable and known to the PPC, have been without electricity since 2011 and 2012. Their reconnection began yesterday. In an attempt to put an end to the chaos, the government will try to identify vulnerable consumers through the lists of beneficiaries of Labour Ministry support programs.
	NAFTEMPORIKI Huge number of unpaid taxes From month to month one record after another is being broken by outstanding debts to the state given that they are already at an all time record high of €63 bln, while from the beginning of the year to October new debts came to €6.775 bln. In just one month, from September to October the debts rose by €927 mln and the number of people who owe money to the state by 101,425 making a total of 2,695,791 of people with outstanding debts to the government.
	ELEFTHEROS TYPOS Storm over Troika pension email Unanswered questions after revelations by Eleftheros Typos The Finance Committee did not deny the existence of the lender’s email with the extreme scenario of a bar on new pensions in 2014. No word from Labour Minister Vroutsis on the substance of the email. And a new bomb for IKA’s [Social Insurance Institute] budget Fewer new pensions in 2014 and a 26% reduction in EKAS (benefits for pensioners).