More austerity for Greek people
May 2016
The mission chiefs of the European Commission, European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism and International Monetary Fund returned to Athens on Tuesday to continue talks on the bailout review.
According to sources in Athens, an additional package of fiscal measures worth 2.7 billion euros will have to be added to the 5.4 billion Greece has proposed.
The 2.7-billion-euro package includes the following proposed measures:
* Cuts in wages in the public sector, with emphasis on quotas and low-skilled workers,
* GST increase on electricity and water bills from 13 percent to 24 percent,
* Cuts in main pensions,
* Liberation of mass layoff clauses,
* Freeze in public sector hiring,
* Abolition of 6 percent GST on medicines, books, theater tickets.
The Greek finance minister Eucleides Tsakalotos said that negotiations will probably conclude with an extraordinary Eurogroup meeting to be held early May.
