AFP, Athens :
Greece’s prime minister on Sunday said his government will not give in to “unreasonable” demands as the debt-ridden country braces for critical negotiations with international creditors on the thorny issue of pension reform. The warning came just days after Athens got one billion euros under the terms of its third bailout programme.
The creditors-the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the ESM-finalised a third Greek debt rescue programme in August worth 86 billion euros ($94 billion) after Greece looked to be on the brink of crashing out of the eurozone.
“The creditors have to know that we are going to respect the agreement to the letter, but that doesn’t mean we are going to succumb to unreasonable and undeserved demands,” Alexis Tsipras told Real News newspaper. “We have no commitment to find the money exclusively from pension cuts. On the contrary, the agreement provides the option of equivalent measures, which we have already processed,” he said.
He admitted though that the pension system, which is “on the brink of collapse”, needs to be overhauled.
The labour ministry is working on a new social security system under which half-to a minimum of 384 euros-will reportedly cut state-guaranteed pensionsand the rest will depend on a person’s income and years of social security payments.
Greece’s prime minister on Sunday said his government will not give in to “unreasonable” demands as the debt-ridden country braces for critical negotiations with international creditors on the thorny issue of pension reform. The warning came just days after Athens got one billion euros under the terms of its third bailout programme.
The creditors-the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the ESM-finalised a third Greek debt rescue programme in August worth 86 billion euros ($94 billion) after Greece looked to be on the brink of crashing out of the eurozone.
“The creditors have to know that we are going to respect the agreement to the letter, but that doesn’t mean we are going to succumb to unreasonable and undeserved demands,” Alexis Tsipras told Real News newspaper. “We have no commitment to find the money exclusively from pension cuts. On the contrary, the agreement provides the option of equivalent measures, which we have already processed,” he said.
He admitted though that the pension system, which is “on the brink of collapse”, needs to be overhauled.
The labour ministry is working on a new social security system under which half-to a minimum of 384 euros-will reportedly cut state-guaranteed pensionsand the rest will depend on a person’s income and years of social security payments.
