Greek tax and pension reform bill to be voted late on Sunday

The second and last day of the debate on a draft pensions and tax reforms bill began in the Greek Parliament at 10:00 on Sunday morning, and will continue throughout the day until the plenum votes late on Sunday night, in a roll-call vote requested by main opposition New Democracy and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). The draft bill is expected to pass with the support of the ruling majority only, with all the opposition parties declaring that they will vote against.

Labour and Social Insurance Minister George Katrougalos submitted a number of significant amendments to the draft bill during the course of the debate, including a transitional period until August 1 before the abolition of an advertising duty that currently finances journalists' social security and pension funds - to give them time to adjust to the new system - and two transitional months, until July 1, before new retirement rules for the armed and security forces go into effect. 

He also agreed to a request that armed forces and security forces personnel be given pensions in the case of death, in the same way that disability pensions are currently given, due to their greater exposure to life-threatening situations in the course of their work.

Sunday's debate began with a heated exchange between Parliament President Nikos Voutsis and opposition MP Evi Christofilopoulou regarding an incident in the Parliament cafeteria between trade unionists and SYRIZA MPs, echoing the tone from the previous day. It is expected to conclude with the speeches of the political party leaders and the prime minister late on Sunday, after which the vote will take place.

Defending the bill on Saturday, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that it delivered "what we promised, with solutions that are feasible and will create a clear path for citizens and investors to come and invest, so that we can finally exit the vicious cycle that ND and PASOK put us in and enter a virtuous cycle."

Regarding the tax-free allowance, in particular, he noted that "this was and remains one of the highest in all of Europe" and denied that the tax burden would increase for the majority of tax-payers.

Similarly, Katrougalos said the pension reform was a radical change that "the country had needed for decades," and cited claims that financing pension fund deficits was responsible for "800 pct increase in debt".

"We are reducing the deficits as we promised not by cutting pensions but through the architecture of the system and the correspondence of contributions and benefits. We are establishing full parity before the law and the divergences that exist are there to protect the weak. We differentiate between welfare and social insurance benefits," he said.

The measures were universally blasted by the opposition parties, which were united in their decision not to back the bill.

Source: ANA-MPA

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