strike trouble for greece ahead of creditor audit
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Strike trouble for Greece ahead of creditor audit

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Strike trouble for Greece ahead of creditor audit

Athens - AFP

Debt-wracked Greece is bracing for a fresh series of strikes this week against a redeployment scheme affecting thousands of civil servants, as its creditors arrive to examine reforms carried out by Athens in exchange for new loans. Greece has agreed to redeploy 12,500 civil servants by the end of September as part of a general restructuring of its public sector, in return for the next instalment of its EU-IMF rescue loans. In response, state school teachers will kick off a five-day strike on Monday that could be extended indefinitely, and civil servants have called a separate two-day strike starting Wednesday, backed by hospital doctors, social security staff, tax collectors and lawyers. Universities are also opposing the cuts, which will affect administrative employees, claiming that they are already short-staffed. Civil servants have to accept new posts or spend eight months on reduced salaries as alternative posts are found, with the risk of losing their jobs altogether. The government has already redeployed some 4,500 civil servants at the end of July, mostly teaching staff, as part of spending cuts. Overall, Greece is due to move or temporarily cut the salaries of a total of 25,000 civil servants and axe 4,000 state jobs by the end of the year. The reform was agreed with Greece's so-called troika of international creditors -- the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank -- in exchange for crucial loans. The technical team from the troika is due to arrive early next week, followed by senior mission chiefs on September 22. According to Eurobank, one of Greece's main lenders, the inspections will also touch upon the privatisation of three ailing industries -- mining company LARKO, truck manufacturer ELVO and defence contractor EAS -- and the drafting of a new property tax. Greece is hoping that the audit can be wrapped up before an October 15 Eurogroup meeting which will decide whether Athens should receive a scheduled loan slice of 1.0 billion euros ($1.33 billion). But a greater priority for Greece is securing additional help for its recession-plagued economy, a prospect that European officials are expected to discuss in November. In November last year, eurozone leaders kept the door open for more rescue loans if Greece achieves primary surplus and carries out structural reforms, including an overhaul of its public sector and its tax system. The Greek government now wants to capitalise on that promise. Last week Athens said it had achieved a primary surplus of 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in the first eight months of the year, instead of an expected 2.5-billion-euro deficit. A primary surplus is a state budget surplus excluding the cost of servicing debts. However, the economy is still shrinking -- albeit at a slower rate -- and unemployment is still growing. "The situation is under control, but certainly (a primary surplus) does not point to a vigorous economy," Panagiotis Petrakis, an economy professor at the University of Athens, told AFP. Greece has received two EU-IMF aid packages worth 240 billion euros since 2010 in a bailout plan that will wind down next year. But there is now widespread acceptance that it will need a third rescue package, probably amounting to 10 billion euros ($13.3 billion). The IMF has forecasted that Greece will need 4.4 billion euros in 2014 and another 6.5 billion in 2015.

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

strike trouble for greece ahead of creditor audit strike trouble for greece ahead of creditor audit

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

strike trouble for greece ahead of creditor audit strike trouble for greece ahead of creditor audit

 



GMT 12:48 2016 Sunday ,27 November

Cilic, Dodig push Croatia to brink of Davis Cup

GMT 05:24 2017 Thursday ,28 December

Erdogan says 'terrorist' Assad cannot be part of Syria

GMT 12:59 2016 Saturday ,05 November

WB welcomes economic reforms in Egypt

GMT 18:40 2016 Saturday ,05 November

Egyptian GDRs in London down

GMT 10:57 2017 Wednesday ,06 December

Peru striker Guerrero has doping ban extended

GMT 17:51 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Trump Signs New Travel Ban on Six Muslim Countries

GMT 10:30 2017 Wednesday ,06 September

Saudi Information Ministry praises media role during Hajj

GMT 15:29 2017 Tuesday ,24 January

Mind games really do help your brain

GMT 06:55 2015 Thursday ,01 October

Boston Red Sox beat Yankees

GMT 08:17 2017 Monday ,28 August

Bahrain celebrates World Humanitarian Day 2017

GMT 02:07 2017 Tuesday ,28 February

Opposition seeks Russian support at Syria talks
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday