Greece Plans More Cuts As Pressure Mounts From EU/IMF

The Greek government will finalize a fresh package of deficit cutting measures for the country once it has completed talks – scheduled for today – with lenders from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Sunday evening.

The Greek government will finalize a fresh package of deficit cutting measures for the country once it has completed talks – scheduled for today – with lenders from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Sunday evening.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister George Papandreou cancelled a planned trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York in order to chair a Cabinet meeting to discuss the appropriate austerity measures, ahead of the all-important conference call with EU and IMF representatives.

Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Venizelos told reporters that the country was determined to fully meet budget targets, stop generating debt and start producing surpluses next year – though he failed to outline precisely how this would be achieved.

[quote]”If we wish to save Greece from a default and put an end to speculation, we must reach three crucial strategic decisions – fully meeting fiscal targets, achieving primary surpluses and proceeding immediately to all structural reforms,” said Venizelos in a prepared statement.[/quote]

Venizelos added that the goal for the country was to end up with a “less costly, smaller, better, smarter” public sector. In recent weeks, the Greek government has been criticised for implementing new taxes to its citizens, with little progress made in addressing the bloated public sector.

Related: Greece Unveils More Budget Cuts and New Property Tax

[quote]”Everyone wants a smaller state,” said Venizelos. “The 2012 budget is now being put together. And the central direction for 2012 is to reduce expenditures.”[/quote]

Yet, despite the government’s seeming willingness to address its current economic woes, Venizelos also reserved some choice words for the political opposition in the country as well as for its international lenders who have “threatened and humiliated” Greece.

[quote]”We should not be the scapegoat or the easy excuse that will be used by European and international institutions in order to hide their own lack of competence to manage the crisis,” he said, adding that “irresponsible analyses and suggestions” made by opposition parties in Greece were “undermining efforts to counter the crisis.”[/quote]

On Saturday, New Democracy opposition leader Antonis Samaras called for snap elections, blaming the government for overtaxing the population without yielding any significant results.

“A renegotiation with our lenders to restart the economy is a condition to get out of this crisis,” said Samaras at a news conference on Sunday.

Referring to the spate of new taxes introduced by the government to combat the debt crisis, Samaras warned that “this is no longer milking the cow, this is killing it,” and called for the government to renegotiate the terms of its deal with the troika of the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank.