Los Angeles Times
September 21, 2011
With its cash reserves rapidly running dry, Greece on Wednesday unveiled new austerity measures that include more public sector job cuts and pension reductions to secure vital rescue funds and prevent a debt default.
The measures will result in scores of state organizations shutting down by the end of the year, terminating 30,000 state jobs, said government spokesman Elias Mossialos.
He said all income over $6,800 would be taxed as of 2012 — a lower threshold than the $11,000 introduced earlier this year — and some retirees younger than 55 would face 40% cuts in their pensions beginning in November.
"The message to international markets and our European partners alike is that Greece will abide by its commitments" to fiscal austerity, Mossialos said.
The measures, the latest of a series of budget cuts, followed a seven-hour Cabinet session requested by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to brief his peers on the outcome of negotiations Monday and Tuesday with international debt inspectors.
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