‘Tranche by tranche with a ‘gift’ on VAT’

Published on 9 July 2013 at 10:06

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At a meeting on July 8, the Eurogroup and IMF agreed to release a further tranche of €6.8bn in aid to Greece, which will be handed over in number of payments between now and October. They also decided to validate a Greek government decision to cut VAT on restaurants from 23 per cent to 13 per cent starting in August, reports Ta Nea.
Eurozone countries are to contribute €3bn, the IMF will provide €1.8bn, plus €2bn will be sourced from interest on Greek bonds and will be provided by the European Central Bank and national central banks.
In exchange, the Greek government has pledged to lay off or change the status of 25,000 public service employees. For the daily

It looks to be a solution hammered out at the last minute, with the troika still using the weapon of pressure [...]. This would not have happened if the previous government had taken action to avoid a situation in which we once again find ourselves with our backs to the wall. Now we can look forward to another difficult two months. [...] The government will have to roll up its sleeves to ensure that this is the last summer to be marked by upheavals and disruption.

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