New Finance minister faces challenge of prior actions

A next Eurogroup meeting is scheduled for June 19, while a first meeting with the troika's heads is expected around mid-July ahead of the troika's next assessment report in autumn.

The representatives of the country's creditors are expected to ask, in July, for a full briefing over the course of the 12 prior actions agreed with Greek authorities -of which six should have been implemented by May. These prior actions are:

-Updating a list

-Introducing legislation offering access to uninsured people in pharmaceutical and diagnostics services and chaning profit margins of pharmacies

-Adopting a new code of ethics for government members

-Ministerial decision for the unification of tax collection procedures

-Adopting legislation for investment licensing

-Adopting legislation for open markets (implemented).

The other six prior actions, which must be implemented by the end of June are:

-Abolishing, from January 1, 2015, all third party duties financing supplementary pension funds under the auspices of Labor ministry

-Introducing legislation to absorb all supplementary pension funds by ETEA

-Introducing a new forest legislation

-Introducing a new legislation on reducing administration burdens

-Introducing a legislation on "small PPC" and settling all of its overdue debt

-Introducing legislation for funding of political parties.

The implementation of these prior actions will pave the way for the disbursement of two pending loan tranches (1.0 billion euros by the end of June and 1.0 billion euros by the end of July).

Greek authorities will begin a round of talks with the troika in autumn over changes in the pension system, a new payroll system in the public sector, extending or not an extra tax contribution, etc.

The new Finance minister will be accompanied by Finance Alternate Minister Christos Staikouras, Finance Deputy Minister Giorgos Mavraganis, the Prime Minister's economic advisors, Stavros Papastavrou and Chrysanthos Lazaridis, along with professor Panos Tsakloglou -the country's representative in the Euro Working Group.

The new Finance minister is considered to be a supporter of free economy and reforms and has supported the transformation of the country's economic model from consumption to exports and investments.

In speeches he made in the past, he has supported cutting wages and pensions and introducing higher taxes.

He worked as director of Prime Minister's economic office in the period 2000-2004, while in the period November 2011-May 2012 he worked as director of the Prime Minister's economic office and has helped in the first PSI+ of Greek debt in 2012.

source: ΑΜΝΑ