Bloomberg
May 24, 2011
Greece’s biggest opposition party rejected Prime Minister George Papandreou’s overture to build support for 78 billion euros ($110 billion) of new budget measures and state-asset sales, saying he is condemning Greeks to more austerity.
“Papandreou is insisting on the same old failed recipe,” Antonis Samaras, leader of the New Democracy party, said in comments broadcast live today on state-run NET TV. “The government is subjecting the Greek people to new sacrifices as it regurgitates what’s been shown to have failed so far.”
Samaras, who spoke after meeting with Papandreou in Athens, said his party would support state-asset sales provided they led to growth and investment rather than being a “panicky move.”
European Union officials have stepped up pressure on Papandreou, whose term ends in 2013, to secure broad political backing for the spending cuts and asset sales that will run through to 2015, as the euro region and the International Monetary Fund discuss additional financing needs to avert a default. Greece received a 110 billion-euro bailout last May in return for measures including wage and pension cuts.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on May 11 that it was “absolutely necessary and urgent” for domestic disputes to be put aside and cross-party support achieved.
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