September 21, 2011
Greece has decided to slash pensions, tax low-income earners and place some 30,000 public workers in a special labor reserve this year, government officials said, as the country scrambles to meet fresh austerity demands from its international creditors.
A Greek finance ministry official, leaving a marathon cabinet meeting to decide on the new measures, said the government would reduce the taxable income threshold to €5,000 ($6,900) as of next year, from €8,000 currently.
A second official said the government had decided on pension cuts that would affect high-income retirees. Those retirees collecting more than €1,200 in their gross monthly pensions would see their pensions above that threshold cut by 20%. For retirees who earned more than that amount and were also 55 years of age, the cuts could reach up to 40%, the official said.
The government is debating demands for €6 billion ($8.22 billion) in additional budget cuts to secure the release of the country's next bailout payment, amid worries that further austerity measures could ignite more popular protest.
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