Samaras at chamber of commerce

Criticising SYRIZA for "dragging the country to the polls that the majority did not want," Samaras said the repercussions of upcoming national elections on January 25 could already be seen among other things in a drop of tax revenues, the stock exchange and deposits. He also criticised SYRIZA's pledges such as rehirings in the public sector, renationalisations and supervision of the banking system by the public sector, all of which he called "outrageous".
 
Among other things, Samaras said that the top of the scale for income tax had been reduced from 45 percent to 42 percent already, and would further be reduced to 33 percent, while SYRIZA called for raising it to 60 percent. He reiterated there would be no more wage and pension reductions and he would not allow the auctioning off of a family's main residence.
 
All of these could be achieved because the government had created prime surpluses and balanced the budget, he stressed. Among other achievements were modernisation of tax services, electronic filing and improvements in bureaucratic procedures. The public sector reduced expenditures by 34 percent, despite resistance, and an improvement of the country's standing in terms of reforms and in competitiveness, Samaras told the business owners.
 
SYRIZA's proposals will bring a break with the EU, the premier said, and force the signing of new loan memorandums, "overturning reforms and asking (Greek people) for more sacrifices."
 
In a speech at the same event, Konstantinos Michalos, president of EVEA and the Central Union of Chambers, said the sector had submitted to the government its proposals about business that it hoped to see adopted, as many small and medium-sized enterprises had been forced to shut down or were struggling to stay solvent. "Without businesses there are no jobs," Michalos said, and noted that a national revival plan could still be implemented to fight tax evasion, black marketeering, operational costs, backed-up debt and unemployment among other things.