ferdo
Utente Senior
Greece to unveil budget after cuts pledge
Stamattina spread 883.
By Kerin Hope in Athens
Published: November 17 2010 13:05 | Last updated: November 17 2010 23:19
Published: November 17 2010 13:05 | Last updated: November 17 2010 23:19
Greece will present its 2011 budget to parliament on Thursday following a last-minute scramble to make additional spending cuts demanded by its eurozone partners.
Slow progress this year on reducing tax evasion and eliminating corruption in the state hospital system has meant the government will miss its targets for both public sector spending and revenues in 2010.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Slow progress this year on reducing tax evasion and eliminating corruption in the state hospital system has meant the government will miss its targets for both public sector spending and revenues in 2010.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Austria quells Greece aid fears - Nov-16
In depth: Greek debt crisis - Nov-16
Lex: Greek path dependency - Nov-15
FT Alphaville: Greeksville, USA - Nov-15
George Papaconstantinou, the finance minister, pledged to make an extra €3.5bn-€4bn of savings in 2011, mainly through cost-cutting at public sector corporations and other state entities. The healthcare budget would be slashed by an extra €1bn.
Mixed signals from Josef Proell, Austria’s finance minister, in the past two days highlighted Greek concerns over the disbursement of the next €9bn tranche of its €110bn loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Proell on Wednesday backed off from an earlier suggestion that Austria might withhold its contribution if it was not satisfied with Greece’s recent fiscal performance.
Athens moved quickly on Wednesday to reassure investors the timetable for payment of the loan tranche was on track.
Following a monitoring mission this month, the IMF is due to disburse €2.5bn in December.
The EU is due to pay out €6.5bn in January, after finance ministers approve the updated Greek reform programme at their December meeting.
“There is no anxiety at all over the timing of the payment,” the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
Greece has enough cash in hand to cover end-of-year expenses as well as payments due in January after raising €6bn in short-term borrowing this quarter, a senior Athens banker said.
However, the confusion over the next loan tranche underlined Greek fears that it will face tighter EU benchmarks on fiscal consolidation and structural reform in 2011.
“It’s a political signal, that things are getting tougher for Athens.
Public sector reform will now have to be accelerated,” said a senior Greek political commentator.
The budget announcement is anxiously awaited as many Greeks fear jobs will have to be cut at public corporations in order to meet the 2011 targets.
Police fired teargas on Wednesday night when extremists disrupted a protest marking the anniversary of a student uprising in 1973 against a military regime.
Mixed signals from Josef Proell, Austria’s finance minister, in the past two days highlighted Greek concerns over the disbursement of the next €9bn tranche of its €110bn loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Proell on Wednesday backed off from an earlier suggestion that Austria might withhold its contribution if it was not satisfied with Greece’s recent fiscal performance.
Athens moved quickly on Wednesday to reassure investors the timetable for payment of the loan tranche was on track.
Following a monitoring mission this month, the IMF is due to disburse €2.5bn in December.
The EU is due to pay out €6.5bn in January, after finance ministers approve the updated Greek reform programme at their December meeting.
“There is no anxiety at all over the timing of the payment,” the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
Greece has enough cash in hand to cover end-of-year expenses as well as payments due in January after raising €6bn in short-term borrowing this quarter, a senior Athens banker said.
However, the confusion over the next loan tranche underlined Greek fears that it will face tighter EU benchmarks on fiscal consolidation and structural reform in 2011.
“It’s a political signal, that things are getting tougher for Athens.
Public sector reform will now have to be accelerated,” said a senior Greek political commentator.
The budget announcement is anxiously awaited as many Greeks fear jobs will have to be cut at public corporations in order to meet the 2011 targets.
Police fired teargas on Wednesday night when extremists disrupted a protest marking the anniversary of a student uprising in 1973 against a military regime.
The Financial Times Limited 2010.
_________________________________________Stamattina spread 883.
