Prime Minister: 'The worst is over, 2013 will be turning point'

"From the start (of the year) there will be some relief, and in the second half the first signs of recovery will appear," Samaras said, noting that by "changing the policy mix -- more money coming in (to the economy) than that going out -- and putting emphasis now on the structural changes, the trend of the economy will also change".

He also said that "the worst is over" for the citizens, "but this doesn't mean that tomorrow we will return to where we were three years ago", adding that the state will be reduced but not dissolved.

"For years the public sector razed both the citizens and its best people. The new public sector to arise will serve the citizen but also distinguish the worth civil servant. It will be smaller, of course, but it will be much more efficient," Samaras said, and on the prospect of layoffs said that nothing more is being done than that which has been already announced, noting that the "reduction of personnel is not affected only with layoffs but also with the hiring of fewer people than those retiring."

On the new tax bill, he said that an effort is being made to reduce the tax burden on the salaried and on businesses by clamping down on tax evasion.

"It is much simpler, more development-oriented, it can take advantage of new technologies and remedies to a great degree some of the injustices that existed before, such as reinstating the large-family (four or more children) benefits," he said.

On the uproar created by leaks on the new tax bill, Samaras said that a technical plan was initially made public which did not express the views of the coalition government or any of the three parties supporting it, noting that "it is not the first time that great extent is given to rumors that do not correspond to reality, nor the intentions of the government".

The prime minister further rejected speculation of early general elections, which he said no one ones, not even those who supposedly are demanding them.

"To speak again about elections -- even to just discuss them -- is madness," he said, adding that "only as a scenario of catastrophe" could election speculation stand.

He also launched a scathing attack on main opposition SYRIZA, accusing it of belonging to the "drachma lobby".

"What does unilateral abolition of the Memorandum or its application laws mean? Just by saying it, it was butter on the bread of all those outside Greece who wanted to kick us out of the euro," Samaras charged, and blasted SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras personally over his statement that an exit from the euro is not 'taboo'.

"Even if he (Tsipras) did not realize it when he said this, such statements create the impression that there is a danger of returning to the drachma," he added.

On his collaboration with the junior partners in the coalition government -- PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos andDemocratic Left (DIMAR) leader Fotis Kouvelis -- he said that "all of us, Vangelis and Fotis and I, realize that this is a big opportunity for all the reforms that were never done and which the country has always needed to be made", while on the prospect of PASOK and DIMAR participation in the government with "front-line" political figures, he said he could not reply on something that has not been put forward as an issue.

Samaras also described his cooperation with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras as "exceptional" and announced that the government is moving quickly to the materialization of the denationalizations, while at the same time criticizing the trade union organizations of the large public utilities and state enterprises (DEKO), accusing them of "acting as if the DEKO, which are public property, are their own property".

"I say to them that the DEKO are not their property. They frequently act like forgotten 'soviets'," he added.

Samaras further expressed disagreement with a prospective outlawing of the ultra-right Chryssi Avghi (Golden Dawn) party, saying that "they are succeeding on their own in making themselves repulsive".

On speculation of a re-establishment of his New Democracy (ND) party, Samaras stressed that "at this time we are exclusively occupied with putting the country back on its own feet" and passed off the speculations as "behind-the-scenes discussions".