Multi-bill tabled in Parliament

The bill introduces new tax hikes, a new privatization fund and new rules for nonperforming loans. Meanwhile Finance Minister Eykledes Tsakalotos has been tasked with addressing leftist MPs at a session of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group to overcome any objections to the reforms.

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem stated that he “can’t say with certainty that a Greek Deal will be reached on May 24th.” The government has accepted the demands of Greece’s lenders and agreed not only to the 5.4 billion euros which have already been voted, but also to the mechanism of automatic cuts in state expenditure of 3.6 billion euros.

However, it seems that no agreement will be reached soon, since the lenders are still examining the mechanism of automatic cuts asking for greater cuts, while another Eurogroup meeting is likely to be needed (possibly on May 29, or in June) in order to conclude to any results on the measures, program review, tranche disbursement and debt.
Moreover, European officials are reluctant in accepting the proposal made by the International Monetary Fund.

New Democracy rejects the new taxes, it has indicated that it will support the creation of a privatization agency and the rules for the management of NPLs.
In an interview with France 24 on Tuesday, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated this position while criticizing the government’s reform potential.

“We have profound disagreement with the policy mix that is proposed by Mr [Alexis] Tsipras for the simple reason that it relies almost exclusively on taxation rather than spending cuts,” he said. Tsipras “is not a true reformer,” he is “a true populist,” he added, claiming that reforms will not be enforced “because Mr Tsipras does not believe in them.”