Government friction over social security reforms
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The issue of social reforms is causing friction among government members and tension with opposition parties. “The solution in the social security plan is to increase revenues and not to cut primary pensions”, stated Government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili.
Social security reforms are to be submitted to Greek Parliament on January 15, 2016, paving the way for a painful cycle of measures that are aimed at alleviating Greece’s debt burden.
The four institutions of Greece’s creditors sent an e-mail to Labor, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity Minister George Katrougalos demanding a definitive replacement of rates against which to calculate old and new pensions as well as detailed quantification by January 5 otherwise they would not be able to assess the performance of the Greek reforms over time.
A government committee is looking into the possibility of imposing a special duty for bank transactions being conducted electronically so as to avert further pension cuts. Experts are studying the types of transactions that could be taxed.
The option is being examined in case there is no agreement between the Greek government and Greece’s creditors. If it is agreed upon, the duty will have a short-term nature so as to cover funding needs.
In this framework, a list of transactions that could be taxed is being explored so as to ensure that there aren’t negative consequences for the economy. It should be noted that, if imposed, this tax will be either 1% perhaps or even smaller.
