Greece Presented €7.11 Additional Austerity Measures
Greek government presented a draft budget, which expects shrinking of tax revenue by 2.8% despite additional measures of €7.11 billion.
The draft explicitly mentions the risk of further divergence of €1.1 billion (0.5% of GDP) this year if Greek people do not respond to the measures.
Greek Finance Ministry said it expects the economy to contract 2.5% next year, after shrinking 5.5% in 2011, as a weakening economic outlook abroad adds to its domestic fiscal woes, according to an announcement.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Evangelos Venizelos, made the following statement:
I submitted to the Parliament today the draft of the 2012 State Budget. The draft Budget moves along the lines of our agreement with the troika. It is supported by measures that have already been decided and announced and are expected to be approved by the Greek Parliament by the end of October.
These measures correct for any slippages so that the fiscal targets for 2012 are met (fiscal deficit of 14.65 billion euro), and produce, after many years, a primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP.
The 2012 State Budget reinforces a difficult effort of fiscal adjustment that reduces a primary DEFICIT of 24 billion euro in 2009 to a primary SURPLUS of 3.2 billion euro in 2012.
The 2012 State Budget also fully compensates for the 0.7% of GDP deviation that is being projected in the execution of the 2011 Budget. The deviation is attributed, to a large extent, to the much deeper than anticipated recession in 2011 that reaches -5.5% rather than -3.8% of GDP, as forecasted in June 2011.
The new macroeconomic developments did not allow us bridging this 0.7% of GDP gap by the end of 2011. For that reason, in agreement with the troika, the fiscal targets of 2011 were merged with those of 2012 as they have been agreed in absolute figures in the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy.
Therefore, the creation of any different impressions that does not take into consideration the unfavorable macroeconomic conditions, the fiscal accomplishments of the past 2 years and all that we have agreed to with the troika, does not do justice to the huge effort of the Greek people.
The fiscal adjustment, as well as meeting the rest of our obligations towards our institutional partners, formulates the requirements for the full implementation of the July 21 decisions by the Euro Summit.
In close cooperation with the troika and our institutional partners we try to alter the fiscal environment, to protect the country fiscally and financially, to shape up the requirements for a new growth model.
The most critical and important task we have to do in order to get back to positive growth rates, with all that this means for the prospects of the country and its citizens, especially the younger ones, is to meet our fiscal and structural goals and to prove that we are determined, united and consistent.
(capital.gr)