PM Samaras: 500-mln-euros to 1 mln Greeks as social dividend

20:34 18/3/2014 - Πηγή: Matrix24

More than 500 million euros of the nearly 3.0-billion-euro primary surplus achieved in 2013 will be distributed as a social dividend in May, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced on Tuesday. Speaking after the conclusion of talks at the finance ministry between the government and the troika representing Greece’s lenders, he also stressed that there

would be no further austerity measures.
The prime minister said that this 500 million euros will be distributed among roughly one million Greeks based on their income and assets, while it would include those in the uniformed services earning less than 1,500 euros a month.
The deal struck with the troika also called for significant structural reforms, mainly by adopting proposals from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) toolkit, which would boost growth by liberalising the economy, increasing competitiveness and leading to a reduction in prices, the prime minister added.
Samaras went on to announce a one-off 20-million-euro sum to be spent on providing shelter and food for the homeless, while the rest of the primary surplus will go toward paying off outstanding debts to the private sector, covering the cost of a reduction in social insurance contributions and paying down Greece’s national debt.
The prime minister confirmed a 3.9 pct reduction in social insurance contributions from July 1, with a 2.9 pct reduction in the contributions paid by employers and a 1 pct reduction in the contributions paid by employees. According to a senior finance ministry official, the government has set aside 350 million euros to cover the losses in revenue for social insurance funds that will result.
The source clarified that the 500 million euros for lower-income groups will be a one-off payment and its distribution will be based on criteria similar to those used to hand out welfare benefits. He also explained that the government would spent a third of the primary surplus, or an additional 1.0 billion euros to that envisaged in the budget, to pay off overdue public-sector debts to private-sector firms and individuals in 2014 – bringing the total for the year to 2.8 billion euros – in order to increase liquidity in the economy.
Another third of the surplus, or 1.0 billion euros, will be spent to pay down debt.
Questioned about recent court decisions finding in favour of judges and uniformed personnel in relation to salary demands, the same source said that no specific sum has been provided for. He noted that for judges, in particular, the cost of the court decisions came to 60 million euros, while for uniformed personnel, the cost was roughly 500 million euros to cover back pay and just under 500 million euros annually. He noted that the cost for the uniformed staff will be covered by equivalent measures.
On tax issues, the source said that the Greek side and the troika had agreed to reduce tax fines to 250 euros from 1,000 euros for simple account books and to 500 euros from 2,500 euros for double-entry books. It was also agreed, based on a proposal from the Greek side, that a capital gains tax on sales of property should be waived for those that keep a property for 20-25 years.
The disbursement of bailout loan tranches to Greece is now expected to be approved by EU finance ministers via a teleconference, and the sums will be disbursed when laws implementing the agreement struck with the lenders are passed by the Greek Parliament.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, in the presence of Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Deputy Finance Minister George Mavraganis, said that Greece’s EU partners are expected to announce that agreement on a technical level with Greece has also been reached on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier, Stournaras had taken part in a teleconference with his EU counterparts on the EU banking union, ahead of Wednesday’s ECOFIN meeting to discuss the issue in Brussels.
He noted that the Greek economy had greatly improved during the last seven months of ongoing negotiations with Greece’s creditors.

source: ΑΜΝΑ