The opposition sees it as a massive election campaign maneuver: Shortly before the European elections announces the Greek Prime Minister Tsipras various tax relief and a special payment for pensioners.
There are comprehensive tax cuts announced by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras: as soon as possible, probably in May, the Greek government wants to vote in Parliament on the tax cuts.
It is planned to reduce the value-added tax for food and catering businesses to 24 percent during the austerity programs to 13 percent. This measure should be felt in retail, ie in supermarkets and grocery stores, but also in taverns and cafes. The VAT for electricity and gas should also be cut sharply – from the current 13 to only six percent.
Greeks also vote for a new parliament
Altogether, as Tsipras together with several ministers announced at a press conference in Athens, 11.5 billion euros would be available for the tax relief – for pensioners it should give this sum a special payment of an average of half a monthly pension.
As reason for this step, the Greek head of government called the forthcoming European elections and the election of a new Greek parliament, which will take place in October at the latest. With the tax reliefs and the special pensioner payment, the government wants to show the people that they have more than met the austerity requirements of the donor countries.
Money buffer of 31 billion euros
Tsipras and Finance Minister Euclid Tsakolotos spoke of a monetary buffer totaling 31 billion euros. As a result of the 3.5% primary surplus demanded by the European financial controllers, a security buffer of 15 billion will remain in the treasury of the 31 billion euro. 3.5 billion euros will be used for the early repayment of a loan to the International Monetary Fund. The opposition sees today’s government announcement as a massive campaign campaign.
When exactly the planned VAT reduction in the retail trade or in the Greek restaurant industry, is not yet clear. Tsipras also called tourism, which should be promoted by the tax cuts. Some financial experts had also advised the Greek government in recent years to comply with the austerity policies of the donor countries, while at the same time providing incentives for more investment in the economy.
