Greece’s finance ministry has set up a “working group” of researchers to go through historical records for damages caused by Germany during World War II, claimed a report by AFP on Tuesday, with the Greeks prepared to seek financial reparations beyond an agreement reached in 1960.
Greek tax inspectors have been staking out island resorts and rock concerts in order to track tax evaders for unpaid fines and assets, said a report by Reuters on Thursday, as the government steps up efforts to raise extra tax revenues in order to plug the nation’s gaping budget deficit.
Greece’s troika of lenders – namely the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – have called on the Greek government to introduce a six-day workweek for its citizens, reported several British publications on Wednesday, in an effort to improve worker productivity and increase government revenue ahead of the country’s second bailout in three years.
Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has announced a fresh round of austerity measures despite widespread protests in Athens. He said the cuts – worth $14.4 billion – were painful yet necessary to keep Greece in the eurozone but also promised that it would be the last round of fiscal tightening for the embattled Mediterranean state.
Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou blamed tax havens on Thursday for “robbing” his nation of vital funds to invest in areas like welfare and education, reported The Telegraph; and claimed that his country would not have needed a bailout if tax evaders and avoiders had not funnelled money overseas.
German tech giant Siemens AG has reached a 330 million euro ($411 million) settlement with Greek authorities for alleged bribery cases dating back to 1997, reported the Daily Telegraph on Monday, with a bulk of the sum expected to go into government infrastructure projects and other investments in the country.
The high cost of road tax, fuel and auto-repairs have forced thousands of Greek commuters to ditch their cars for bicycles, said a report by Reuters on Wednesday, with many bicycle shop owners claiming that a new “bike culture” was emerging along the, formerly bike-adverse, streets of Athens.
The head on the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, yesterday pledged to stand by debt-ridden Greece and at the same time urged banks to do more to stabilize the eurozone’s economy.
According to a Reuters report, Lagarde vowed to stand by Greece, adding that the global lender, as well as the troika international lenders including the European Commission and the European Central Bank, is looking for new ways to keep Greece afloat.
An Athens-based think-tank has said that the Greek economy will shrink more than forecast this year, as rising unemployment and spending cuts take its toll on demand, slowing down efforts made towards economic recovery.
According to the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), the outlook for the Greece economy has worsened since April, when it had expected the economy to shrink by 5 percent and unemployment to reach 20 percent this year.
Ministers from the newly elected Greek coalition government will be flying to the European Union Summit in Brussels this week on economy class seats, reported Reuters on Wednesday, after President Karolos Papoulias had insisted on a show of frugality to “set an example” for the country.
Papoulias, 83, is leading the delegation to the summit, as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, 22 years his junior, had been hospitalised and is recovering from eye surgery.
