Mid term fiscal strategy scheme to reach parliament

The Midterm Fiscal Strategy Framework ruling the 2015 – 2018 budgets, will keep the country under European supervision for the next 4 years and has to be put to vote until May 5, before the next Eurogroup meeting, as agreed upon in the recent negotiation with the Troika auditors.

The State Accounting Office has made a first draft with binding limits for expenditure in the coming years, along with the new taxation reservoir. According to it, there will be 2.6 billion euros in indirect taxes (mostly on fuel, drinks and a VAT increase), municipal taxes and further decreases in state spending.

The new Framework will bring more fiscal discipline in the public sector and the government plans to call it a “road map” to take the country out of the memorandum policies and recession. With the fiscal discipline policies, the public sector is expected to cover 5.5 billion euros from the fiscal deficit.

Adding the 5.5 billion of public spending cuts to the 2.6 billion of the new taxes, the government feels confident enough it will reach the 8.1 billion euros target of the original agreement with the Troika auditors. Conversation with the auditors about the Framework has been taking place in the past few weeks via e-mail.