13.9 billion euros of fiscal measures must be finalized

A new round of meetings between the government and the Troika starts today in the ministries of Finance, Labour and Administrative Reform. Many issues remain open on all fronts, as well as the possibility of imposing in advance additional tax collection measures to address the black hole of 1 billion euros in EOPYY.

"We need to get this done by Wednesday," an economic team player who attended the meeting said on Sunday. "There are gaps both in the fiscal measures and the prerequisites" another member said, adding that there will not be any additional retroactive measures for 2012.

The meetings with the Troika will begin early in the morning at the ministries of Finance, Labour and Administrative Reform. On labour issues, the Troika insists on a drastic reduction of severance pay and elimination of the three-year period, while regarding the issues of the Administrative Reform ministry it strictly requires the redundancy of 15,000 civil servants by the end of the year.

On the fiscal side, the government must close the measures of 13.9 billion euros per year, and find common ground in the dispute with the Troika on the figure of the recession for 2013 (the Troika believes it will be slightly below 5% while the government estimates it at 3.8%), which will judge the amount of the fiscal gap and the sustainability of the national debt.