12/01/2017 11:22
A plan by the government to extend the operation of the automatic fiscal mechanism beyond 2018, with the inclusion of cuts to pensions and the tax-free ceiling, which Athens had intended as a compromise solution with the country’s creditors, is running into the opposition of the International Monetary Fund.
IMF officials say that such a concession would not be enough, and point to a recent article by Poul Thomsen, in which the former head of the Fund’s mission to Greece made it clear that a reduction in the tax-free threshold and further social security reforms are interventions that are required anyway. They added that therefore they should not form part of the so-called “cutter” in case the primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product is not met.
IMF officials say that such a concession would not be enough, and point to a recent article by Poul Thomsen, in which the former head of the Fund’s mission to Greece made it clear that a reduction in the tax-free threshold and further social security reforms are interventions that are required anyway. They added that therefore they should not form part of the so-called “cutter” in case the primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product is not met.