Greece kept breathing on Sunday before the start of a crucial week for economic recovery, with a shy reopening of banks, large repayments to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the impact of the controversial tax hike.
The government just to reshape the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, to exclude opposed to the new austerity measures ministers, decreed last Saturday the reopening of banks, which are closed from 29 June to Monday.
MORE: Germany rule out a partial waiver of the Greek debt
MORE: Greece: Alexis Tsipras dismissed all ministers who voted against the
The restrictions and capital controls will remain in place, even though some minor relaxations Athens announced.
Limiting the withdrawal of cash was set at 420 euros ($ 455) per week instead of 60 euros ($ u s66) a day, so that citizens can take greater amounts of money at once, without having to queue every day in front of the ATM.
exceptions to the Greeks who have to pay for medical care or study abroad are also allowed.
However, Greece It can not loosen the belt more, fearing a massive flight of wealth occurs.
The country’s situation is very precarious, despite the emergency loan of 7,000 million euros (7,580 million dollars) that will receive. These funds will disappear quickly with repayment of EUR 4,200 million ($ u s4.550 million) to the European Central Bank (ECB) and arrears of 2.000 million euros (2.165 million dollars) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Return of the “troika”
Nevertheless, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated on Sunday its opposition to a reduction ” classical “Greek debt, considering that this removes could not take place” in the monetary union “.
For the first time in months, ECB, IMF and the European Commission, formerly known as the “troika”, are scheduled to travel to Athens next week.
Their task is to assess the state of the Greek economy, weakened by years of recession, which will face a Monday fiscal impact.
The Greek Parliament approved a reform of VAT, as it undertook with partners a week ago in a tense EU summit, in exchange for a new aid plan for the medium term.
A non-perishables will apply the new tax base, 23%, as well as public transport, taxis, restaurants and other services. So far this percentage was 13 percent.
The executive expected to result in additional annual revenue of 2,400 million euros ($ s2.600 million) from 2016, and 795 million euros (860 million dollars) this year.
New Tsipras test
This increase in VAT is a first exercise of good will of the government of Alexis Tsipras, who will not have a break after this reform, since the agreement in Brussels vote requires that Athens next Wednesday at the latest new reforms (civil justice, banking law).
This will be a new political challenge for Tsipras, who has undergone several low in his party, Syriza, during the vote on VAT and that, according to experts, will not succeed in avoiding a snap general election.
And, in this context, the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman Economy opposite the austerity measures imposed on Athens, also criticized the government of Tsipras. “Maybe he overestimated the competence of the Greek government,” he said.
The creditor countries should launch a third plan for Greece of more than 80,000 million euros in three years, as promised by Brussels, and They must overcome their differences.
As an example of the frictions, the French finance minister, Michel Sapin, denied in an interview published Sunday defended by his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble, idea of a temporary exit of Greece from the eurozone.
“You talk about something that may not exist. Or exit the euro, or remains in it,” Sapin said the Greek weekly To Vima.
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande, said in an article published Sunday in France that his country is ready to participate in “a stronger organization” of the euro zone, and constitute “a vanguard with the nations” who want it.
No comments:
Post a Comment