To Ethnos, 4 March 2010

This is the dawning of the age of austerity

Published on 4 March 2010 at 13:21
To Ethnos, 4 March 2010

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It’s sheer “Armageddon”, proclaims To Ethnos front page after yesterday’s announcement of a new austerity plan to slash the Greek national debt by €4.8bn. "This is the third austerity plan,” recounts the centre-left daily. “The first was amended by Brussels [in early January], the second approved in January, and here comes another one.” In view of the far more draconian belt-tightening measures now in store for the Greeks, the daily regrets that the EU is not according the country more financial aid. “Prime minister George Papandreou is tempted to resort to the IMF, while Europe remains divided over the practical details of a bailout plan. In the meantime, it is the Greeks who are going to foot the bill: a pension freeze, pay cuts, a tax hike – on VAT, too,” especially on alcohol and cigarettes. The paper warns that “the unions are now mustering their ranks for a symbolic social protest, which could trigger a spate of similar protests in Europe”.

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