EUROZONE-GREECE/MINISTERS New Greek ministers vow to make "difficult deal" as fair as possible

Record ID: 146674

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/MINISTERS New Greek ministers vow to make "difficult deal" as fair as possible
  • Date: 20th July 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JULY 20, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF GREEK FINANCE MINISTRY VARIOUS OF GREEK AND EUROPEAN FLAGS ON ROOF (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) GREEK FINANCE MINISTER, EUCLID TSAKALOTOS, SAYING: "Tax evasion, the problem in the fiscal system, is one of the major problems that the Greek government will face and it is also one of the dom
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3Q33N14GYKSW90S7ZSM4CGFV3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Leftist ministers newly-appointed to the Greek cabinet promised on Monday (July 20) that they would implement a "difficult" bailout agreement as fairly as possible.
    The deal struck with fellow euro zone countries and creditors to open negotiations on a third bailout included many of the same unpopular provisions roundly rejected by the Greek people in a referendum on July 5.
    It proved highly controversial within the ruling Syriza party and forced Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to sack some of the most prominent rebels in a government reshuffle.
    At a handover ceremony at the finance ministry between the outgoing and incoming deputy ministers, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos vowed to clamp down on tax evasion.
    "Tax evasion, the problem in the fiscal system, is one of the major problems that the Greek government will face and it is also one of the dominant issues in the negotiations," Tsakalotos said.
    He was speaking on the day tough new VAT rules agreed under the bailout terms came into force with the rates on food and public transport jumping from 23 percent to 13 percent.
    "We will do everything in our power, and this is the big announcement, to ensure that the VAT increase goes to the state coffers and not to the pockets of cheats," his new deputy Tryfon Alexiadis said.
    Over at the labour ministry, outgoing minister Panos Skourletis who has been reshuffled to the energy brief, said the government's role was now to put in place the unpalatable deal so as to limit its impact on the most vulnerable.
    "What we are called upon to do is to implement a difficult deal, a deal that was forced upon us, in such a way as to contain the negative effects on the majority of society," he said.
    The set of measures was voted through the Greek parliament on Thursday morning, sailing through despite a government rebellion thanks to support from opposition parties.
    The new labour minister said though the government was obliged to support the deal, there was some room for manoeuvre when it came to implementing it.
    "Concerning the prior actions that we voted last week and will vote this week, let's not fool ourselves, we have limited options. Concerning the implementation, working with [the EU] and the implementing the deal in September, we do have options. Even in the agreement decided on at the EU summit," George Katrougalos said.
    A second parliamentary vote will be held on Wednesday (July 22) on measures including justice and banking reforms and a similar Syriza rebellion is expected.
    The bailout terms include tax hikes, pension cuts, strict curbs on public spending, an overhaul of collective bargaining rules and a transfer of 50 billion euros of state assets into a special privatisation fund.
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