FinMin Stournaras: No cuts in salaries, pensions and no new taxes in 2015-2016

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras reassures that neither horizontal cuts in salaries and pensions nor new taxes will need to be enforced to make up for any fiscal caps that may appear in 2015-2016.

In an interview with Sunday’s edition of Kathimerini newspaper, Stournaras says that “the emphasis will be on structural reforms that reduce the cost of the state without trimming down the quality of public services.”

He added that the size of the fiscal gap will be determined after the summer, stressing that the Finance Ministry disagrees with the troika of the country’s creditors that this will be up to 2.0 percent of GDP.

"The funds of the rescue package are sufficient until July 2014,” the minister notes, adding that “for the remaining period, I am confident that our (EU) partners will fulfill their commitment to provide adequate funding, insofar we fulfill ours."

Stournaras additionally notes that “the issue of debt reduction will be raised” when the country achieves a general government primary surplus, as provided for by the Eurogroup decision.

As far as VAT reduction in the food and restaurant sector is concerned, Stournaras underlines that “our intention is to have it applied on a pilot basis in the last months of the year, and if it succeeds, then it will be permanent. For the specific measure to succeed, the VAT reduction should be passed on right away to prices, otherwise there will be no improvement in consumption to make up for the loss of revenue from the rate reduction.”

Source: Athens News Agency