Greeceâs finance minister has said he will implement job cuts immediately in the countryâs bloated public sector after international lenders turned up the heat on the socialist government.
Evangelos Venizelos told parliament on Tuesday night: âThe message is that weâre raising the flag of structural change ... Public sector reform is going to happen right now.
âThe country has to gain momentum and a sense of purpose in order to become competitive, to have a future.â
Mr Venizelosâs policy switch followed warnings by Greeceâs international lenders that foot-dragging on structural reform would no longer be tolerated. Athens is already lagging behind on this yearâs fiscal targets and pressure is mounting on eurozone nations to address its debt crisis.
The government pledged to cut 150,000 public sector jobs, almost 20 per cent of the total, by 2014 under the terms of a second international bail-out agreed in July.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1a1df098-d942-11e0-884e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X1GLoxcX
That´s an extra booster for GDP figures. Germany and the rest of Europe will like it as it improves competitiveness. So what is Greece going to do with even more unemployed? Asking for the next round of EU help measures, hum?
Evangelos Venizelos told parliament on Tuesday night: âThe message is that weâre raising the flag of structural change ... Public sector reform is going to happen right now.
âThe country has to gain momentum and a sense of purpose in order to become competitive, to have a future.â
Mr Venizelosâs policy switch followed warnings by Greeceâs international lenders that foot-dragging on structural reform would no longer be tolerated. Athens is already lagging behind on this yearâs fiscal targets and pressure is mounting on eurozone nations to address its debt crisis.
The government pledged to cut 150,000 public sector jobs, almost 20 per cent of the total, by 2014 under the terms of a second international bail-out agreed in July.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1a1df098-d942-11e0-884e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X1GLoxcX
That´s an extra booster for GDP figures. Germany and the rest of Europe will like it as it improves competitiveness. So what is Greece going to do with even more unemployed? Asking for the next round of EU help measures, hum?
