Austerity Packages of Greece

This article details the fourteen austerity packages passed by the Government of Greece between 2010 and 2017. These austerity measures were a result of the Greek government-debt crisis and other economic factors. All of the legislation listed remains in force.

First Austerity Package

First austerity package
Hellenic Republic
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date commenced	February 9th, 2010
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The first austerity package was the first in a row of countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was approved by the Hellenic Parliament in early 2010.

The first austerity measure was a minor austerity package with the purpose of reducing the budget deficit. These measures preceded the First Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece known as "momerandum. It emerged after the promise of the Greek prime minister in the World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland.^[1] He promised that he would take some measures so that the deficit was cut. The package was implemented on 9 February 2010 and was expected to save €0.8 billion; it included a freeze in the salaries of all government employees, a 10% cut in bonuses, as well as cuts in overtime workers, public employees and work-related travel.^[2]

Second Austerity Package

Second austerity package
Hellenic Republic
Protection of the national economy - Emergency measures to tackle the fiscal crisis (Law 3833/2010)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	5 March 2010
Date assented to	11 March 2010
Date commenced	13 March 2010
Legislative history
Bill published on	3 March 2010
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The second austerity package is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was approved by the Hellenic Parliament in March 2010.

On 5 March 2010, amid new fears of bankruptcy, the Greek parliament passed the "Economy Protection Bill", which was expected to save another €4.8 billion.^[3] The measures include (in addition to the above):^[4] 30% cuts in Christmas, Easter and leave of absence bonuses, a further 12% cut in public bonuses, a 7% cut in the salaries of public and private employees, a rise of VAT from 4.5% to 5%, from 9% to 10% and from 19% to 21%, a rise of tax on petrol to 15%, a rise in the (already existing) taxes on imported cars of up to 10%–30%, among others.

On 23 April 2010, after realising the second austerity package failed to improve the country's economic position, the Greek government requested that the EU/IMF bailout package be activated.^[5] Greece needed money before 19 May, or it would face a debt roll over of $11.3bn.^[6][7][8] The IMF had said it was "prepared to move expeditiously on this request".^[9]

Shortly after the European Commission, the IMF and ECB set up a tripartite committee (the Troika) to prepare an appropriate programme of economic policies underlying a massive loan. The Troika was led by Servaas Deroose, from the European Commission, and included also Poul Thomsen (IMF) and Klaus Masuch (ECB) as junior partners. In return the Greek government agreed to implement further measures.^[10] Servaas Deroose was later replaced by Matthias Mors as representative of the European Commission.

Third Austerity Package

Third austerity package – The first memorandum
Hellenic Republic
Measures for implementing the support mechanism of the Greek economy by the member-states of the Eurozone and the IMF (Law 3845/2010)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	6 May 2010 (For: 172; Against: 121; 3 Abstentions)
Date assented to	6 May 2010
Date commenced	6 May 2010
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The third austerity package is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It came with the signing of the First Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece known as First Memorandum with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB). It was announced in May 2010 and approved by the Hellenic Parliament in June 2010.

Background

On 1 May 2010, Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a new round of austerity measures, which have been described as "unprecedented".^[11] The proposed changes, which aim to save €38 billion through 2012, represent the biggest government overhaul in a generation.^[12] The bill was met with a nationwide general strike and massive protests the following day, with three people being killed, dozens injured, and 107 arrested.^[12]

Vote in Parliament

The bill was submitted to Parliament on 4 May and approved on 6 May.^[13][14] Out of 160 MPs consisting the PASOK government majority, 157 MPs supported the passing of the bill, while 3 MPs abstained. ND, SYRIZA and KKE voted against the bill; however, Dora Bakoyianni of ND voted for the bill in principle and was subsequently expelled from ND. LAOS voted for the bill.

Further separate votes on 29 and 30 June were held to implement portions of the package.^[15][16]

Specific measures

The measures include:^[17][18][19]

• Public Sector Reform
  • The number of public-owned companies shall be reduced from 6,000 to 2,000.^[20]
  • Limit of €500 per month to 13th and 14th month salaries of public employees; abolished for employees receiving over €3,000 a month.
  • 8% cut on public sector allowances (in addition to the two previous austerity packages)
  • 3% pay cut for DEKO (public sector utilities) employees.
  • Public sector limit of €1,000 introduced to bi-annual bonus, abolished entirely for those earning over €3,000 a month.
  • The number of municipalities shall shrink from 1,000 to 400.^[20]
• Pension Reform (passed in Jul 2010)^[21][22]
  • Limit of €800 per month to 13th and 14th month pension instalments; abolished for pensioners receiving over €2,500 a month.
  • Return of a special tax on high pensions.
  • Equalisation of men's and women's pension age limits. Women's retirement age increased from 60 to 65.^[22]
  • General pension age has not changed, but a mechanism has been introduced to scale them to life expectancy changes.
  • Average retirement age for public sector workers will be increased from 61 to 65.^[20]
• Tax Reform
  • VAT rises to 23% (from 19%), 11% (from 9%) and 5.5% (from 4%).
  • Extraordinary taxes imposed on company profits.
  • Rise in the value of property (and thus higher taxes).
  • 10% rise in luxury taxes and sin taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and fuel.
  • 10% additional rise for all imported cars.
• Labor Market Reforms
  • Changes were planned to the laws governing lay-offs and overtime pay.
• A financial stability fund has been created.

Implementation

On 2 May 2010, a loan agreement was reached between Greece, the other eurozone countries, and the International Monetary Fund. The deal consisted of an immediate €45 billion in loans to be provided in 2010, with more funds available later. The first instalment covered €8.5 billion of Greek bonds that became due for repayment.^[23]

In total, €110 billion have been agreed on.^[24][25] The interest for the eurozone loans is 5%, considered to be a rather high level for any bailout loan. The European Monetary Union loans will be pari passu and not senior like those of the IMF. In fact the seniority of the IMF loans themselves has no legal basis but is respected nonetheless. The loans should cover Greece's funding needs for the next three years (estimated at €30 billion for the rest of 2010 and €40 billion each for 2011 and 2012).^[26] According to EU officials, France and Germany^[27] demanded that their military dealings with Greece be a condition of their participation in the financial rescue.^[28] As of 12 May 2010, the deficit was down 40% from the previous year.^[20]

Fourth Austerity Package

Fourth austerity package – 'The Medium-term Programme'
Hellenic Republic
Medium-term fiscal strategy 2012-15 (Law 3895/2011)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	29 June 2011 (For: 155; Against: 138; 5 Abstentions)
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The fourth austerity package, commonly called 'The Medium-term Programme' or 'The June 2011 measures', is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was approved by the Hellenic Parliament in June 2011.

Further austerity was introduced in 2011. In the midst of public discontent, massive protests and a 24-hour-strike throughout Greece,^[29][30] the parliament debated on whether or not to pass a new austerity bill, known in Greece as the "mesoprothesmo" (the mid-term [plan]).^[31][32] The government's intent to pass further austerity measures was met with discontent from within the government and parliament as well,^[32] but was eventually passed with 155 votes in favour^[31][32] (a marginal 5-seat majority). Horst Reichenbach headed up the task force overseeing Greek implementation of austerity and structural adjustment.^[33]

Specific measures

The new measures included:^[34][35]

• Raising €50 billion from privatisations and sales of government property.
• Tax Reform
  • Increasing taxes for those with a yearly income of over €8,000.
  • An extra tax for those with a yearly income of over €12,000.
  • Increasing VAT in the housing industry.
  • An extra tax of 2% for combating unemployment.
• Pension Reform
  • Lower pension payments ranging from 6% to 14% from the previous 4% to 10%.
• Creation of a special agency responsible with exploiting government property, and others.

On 11 August 2011 the government introduced more taxes, this time targeted at people owning immovable property.^[36] The new tax, which was paid through the owner's electricity bill,^[36] affected 7.5 million Public Power Corporation accounts^[36] and ranged from 3 to 20 euro per square meter.^[37] The tax applied for 2011–2012 and was expected to raise €4 billion in revenue.^[36]

On 19 August 2011 the Greek Minister of Finance, Evangelos Venizelos, said that new austerity measures "should not be necessary".^[38] On 20 August 2011 it was revealed that the government's economic measures were still out of track;^[39] government revenue went down by €1.9 billion while spending went up by €2.7 billion.^[39]

On a meeting with representatives of the country's economic sectors on 30 August 2011, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance acknowledged that some of the austerity measures were irrational,^[40] such as the high VAT, and that they were forced to take them with a gun to the head.^[40]

Fifth Austerity Package

Fifth austerity package – October 2011 measures
Hellenic Republic
Pension regulations, uniform pay scale - grading system, labour reserve and other provisions for the implementation of the Medium-term Fiscal Strategy Framework 2012-15 (Law 4024/2011)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	20 October 2011 (For: 154; Against: 144)
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The fifth austerity package is the fifth in a row of countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was aimed to ensure the 6th bailout instalment for Greece.^[41][42][43] The representatives of creditors required Greece to take new measures in order to limit the state expenditures. That was one of the conditions so that the financing of Greek economy to continue normally. The new bill (frequently is called multi-bill) hit mostly the civil servants and the retirees. It was voted by the Greek parliament on 20 October 2011 amid protests.^[44][45] A man was killed during the demonstration of Syntagma Square.^[46] Few days later the European countries ended up to an agreement for haircut of Greek debt.

Measures

The package includes:^[47][48][49]

• A uniform pay scale will be implemented for civil servants. According to it, the wages of civil servants will be cut by 30% and there will be a cap on wages and bonuses.
• The institution of labor reserve is enacted. The civil servants who are dismissed, will receive 60% of their pay for one year.
• The tax-free threshold for income tax will be lowered from 12,000 euros to 5000 euros, rather than plan of 8,000 euros of fourth austerity package (June 2011).
• Monthly pensions above 1,200 euros are cut by 20%. About retirees under 55 years old, the pension over 1000 euros is cut by 40%
• Lump Sum for retirees is cut by 20% to 30%
• Education spending will be cut by closing or merging schools

Sixth Austerity Package

Sixth austerity package – February 2012 measures
Hellenic Republic
Approval of Plans of Financial Facilitation between the European Financial Stability. Facility (E.F.S.F.), the Greek Republic and the Bank of Greece, the Plan of Memorandum of Understanding between the Greek Republic, the European Commission and the Bank of Greece and other urgent measures. (Law 4046/2012)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	12 February 2012 (For: 199; Against: 74; 5 Abstentions)
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The sixth austerity package is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was approved by the Hellenic Parliament in February 2012.

Negotiations about a fifth austerity package (October 2011 – January 2012)

In October 2011, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou got parliamentary backing for further austerity measures. These new measures would allow Greece to get an extra instalment of international loans, a second bailout package, that would prevent a sovereign default and they would make possible the partial write-off of Greek debt, the so-called private sector involvement (PSI).^[50] As a result of this backing, Greece was granted by the EU a quid pro quo of further austerity for a €100bn loan and a 50% debt reduction through PSI.^[51]

Within a week, Papandreou, backed unanimously by his cabinet, announced a referendum on the deal, sending shockwaves through the financial markets.^[52][53] This resulted in Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel and France's prime minister Nicolas Sarkozy issuing an ultimatum declaring that, unless the referendum resulted in the approval of the new measures, they would withhold an overdue €6bn loan payment to Athens, money that Greece needed by mid-December.^[52][54] Papandreou cancelled the referendum the next day after the New Democracy Party, leaders of the opposition, agreed to back the agreement.^[52]

On 10 November Papandreou resigned as prime minister following an agreement with the New Democracy party and the Popular Orthodox Rally to appoint a new prime minister of common acceptance promulgate laws associated with implementing the new measures that were agreed with the EU.^[55] The person chosen for this task was non-MP technocrat Lucas Papademos, former Governor of the Bank of Greece and former Vice-President of the European Central Bank; his appointment was criticised by left-wing parties and branded "unconstitutional".^[56] By contrast, three separate polls taken when Papademos assumed office revealed that around 75% of Greeks thought that temporary, emergency technocratic rule was "positive".^[56]

The EU insisted that whichever government was elected after Papademos in 2012, it must be bound to honour the agreed upon EU-IMF austerity strategy.^[57] It thus demanded that Greek party-political leaders sign legally binding letters to this effect, as well as to any additional measures that might be required in future as part of the second rescue-package.^[57] Papademos argued in favour of signing, even in the face of opposition from major pro-austerity factions in his government.^[57] Such letters would bind Greek governments to austerity and structural adjustment through to 2020.^[57] It was announced that the general election to replace Papademos' technocratic administration was to be delayed until April, or even May 2012 because more time was needed to finalise plans for austerity and structural adjustment, as well as to complete negotiations over the Greek debt reduction.^[58][59]

Finalising the deal on the 50% PSI debt write-off, required by the troika as a condition for extending more aid, proved difficult in early 2012, with hedge funds being the most difficult to persuade.^{[60][61][62][63]} In an interview with The New York Times, Papademos said that if his country did not receive unanimous agreement from its bondholders to voluntarily write down €100bn of Greek's €340bn debt, he would consider legislating to force bondholder losses, and that if things went well, Greeks could expect "an end to austerity" in 2013.^[64] Others believed that even the proposed 50% would not be enough to prevent a sovereign default.^[64][65][66]

Approval by the Hellenic Parliament (February 2012)

In February 2012, facing sovereign default, Greece was in need of more funds from the IMF and EU by 20 March 2012, and was negotiating over the next lending package, worth €130 billion. On 10 February 2012, the Greek cabinet approved the draft bill of a new austerity plan, which has been calculated to improve the 2012 budget deficit with €3.3 billion (and a further €10 billion improvement scheduled for 2013 and 2014). The austerity plan includes:^[67][68]

• 22% cut in minimum wage from the current €750 per month.
• Holiday wage bonuses (one extra months of full wage being paid each year) are permanently cancelled.
• 150,000 jobs cut from state sector by 2015, of which 15,000 shall be cut by the end of 2012.
• Pension cuts worth €300 million in 2012.
• Changes to laws to make it easier to lay off workers.
• Health and defence spending cuts.
• Industry sectors are given the right to negotiate lower wages depending on economic development.
• Opening up closed professions to allow for more competition, particularly in the health, tourism, and real estate sectors.
• Privatisations worth €15 billion by 2015, including Greek gas companies DEPA and DESFA. In the medium term, the goal remains at €50 billion.

The latest round of austerity measures means Greece will likely face at least another year of recession, presaging another round of business closures, before the economy will start to grow again,^[69] and foreign observers were shocked by both the cold-heartedness of German negotiators and a perceived lack of integrity on Greece's behalf because of Greece not honoring its commitments.^[70]

Showing position of disagreement, the transport minister Makis Voridis from the Popular Orthodox Rally party, along with five deputy ministers from various ministries, decided to resign.^[71] On 11 February, caretaker prime minister Lucas Papademos warned of "social explosion and chaos" if the parliament would not approve the deal the next day. Speaking to members of Parliament before their vote, Papademos stated that if the majority of them chose to vote against the austerity measures there would be several onerous consequences, including that the government would not be able to pay the salaries of its employees. On 13 February, the Greek Parliament subsequently approved this latest round of austerity measures by a vote of 199 to 74. During the period of parliamentary debate, massive protests were witnessed in Athens that left stores looted and burned and more than 120 people injured. The riot was one of the worst since 2010.^[72][73]

Despite being one of the ruling parties, the Popular Orthodox Rally voted against the plan and withdrew itself from the government. Forty-three MPs from the other two ruling parties (social democratic PASOK and conservative New Democracy) also voted against the plan and were immediately expelled from their parties. This reduced the combined power of these two parties from 236 to 193 seats, which is still majority for the 300-seat parliament of Greece.^[74] The vote was a major precondition for the EU and IMF to jointly release the funds, which are supposed to cover all financial needs in 2012 and 2013, with the hope that Greece can start lending again at the private capital markets in 2014.^[75]

The determination of the leaders of Greek ruling parties to implement the new austerity package was however doubted. For example, Antonis Samaras (leader of New Democracy) talked about renegotiating the deal, despite voting for the austerity package. Because of such uncertainty, the Eurozone finance ministers demanded Greek main politicians to sign a written assurance for their continued support to implement the austerity package, both before and after any elections.^[76]

After passing the new austerity package on 13 February, there still remained four other hurdles for Greece, to receive the new €130 billion bailout loan:^[77]

• €325 million out of the total €3.3 billion austerity package for 2012 still needed to be specified in the form of some exact "structural expenditure reductions", to be outlined and passed by a separate political bill.
• Written commitments from the main party leaders should be filed, to guarantee their continued support for the austerity program, both before and after elections in April 2012.
• The debt restructure agreement, with a debt write-off worth €107 billion, needs to be implemented by a bond swap in early March 2012, involving minimum 95% of the private creditors. Under the terms of the deal, all the holders (banks, pension funds, insurers and others) of €206 billion in Greek government bonds, would have to -if they accept the deal either voluntarily or by a collective action clause- write down the face value of their holdings by 53.5%, by swapping bonds they hold for longer-dated securities that pay a lower coupon. When calculated for the bonds with the longest maturity, the 53.5% haircut of face value, will be equal to a 74% loss on the net present value of the debt.
• A debt sustainability report by the Troika, based upon the full implementation of the latest austerity package and the debt restructure agreement, needs to show a sustainable outlook for the Greek economy, with the debt relative to GDP being reduced to 120% in 2020.

As of 19 February, Greece had managed to pass the first two hurdles. The debt restructure agreement and the result of the debt sustainability report was however still pending. Some of the newest calculations suggested that Greece would now need an enhanced bailout at €136 billion, and they were still likely to exceed the 120% debt level in 2020. It is now up to the Troika to decide if this can be accepted under the previous terms. Alternatively, the slightly worse outlook for the debt numbers can also be counterfeited, by some further debt restructuring and/or demands for additional austerity measures.^[78]

Seventh Austerity Package

Seventh austerity package – October/November 2012 measures
Hellenic Republic
Approval of the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy Plan 2013-2016,Urgent implementation measures of L.4046/2012 and the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy Framework 2013-2016. (Law 4093/2012)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	31 October and 7/8 November 2012 (For: 153; Against: 128; 18 Abstentions)
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The seventh austerity package is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It was approved by the Hellenic Parliament in October 2012.

The seventh austerity package is a continuation of the 89 austerity and reform requirements outlined by the second bailout package (March 2012).

Specific measures

Some of the main elements are:

• Bank recapitalisation
• Tax reform
• Labor market reform
• Pension reform
• The "Midterm fiscal plan 2013–16".

The fiscal plan is an extension of the initial bailout package, as it contain the framework for additional €5.3bn of measures (primarily tax hikes) to be implement in 2015–16 along with the €13.5bn of measures for 2013–14. The extension (and framework agreement for that) will likely be covered in more details by a new third bailout program in November 2012, and could perhaps also be described as the seventh austerity package, as it will likely only be defined in full details around summer/autumn 2014 where the Greek parliament is required to pass it as final law.

History

The seventh austerity package and reforms framework were outlined already in the second bailout agreement (March 2012). Initially, the package only dealt with those €13.5bn of measures (comprising €10bn spending cuts and €3.5bn tax hikes) accepted and signed by the Greek politicians for implementation in fiscal year 2013 and 2014. According to the plan for implementation of the second bailout agreement, the measures were expected to have been passed by the Greek parliament in June 2012.

The passage of the austerity package was delayed due to political turmoil in Greece. Two national parliamentary elections were held, on 6 May and 17 Jun. Subsequent political call prompted by a worsened recession to ask for a 2-year extension of the bailout programme, along with the politicians conducting stubborn and slow negotiations to settle the exact content of the measures in the package, it was only finalised in all details at 29 October 2012.

Negotiations

As of 1 October 2012, the Troika and the Greek government were still in the process to negotiate and agree on a €13.5bn austerity package for 2013–14, of which €10bn should be implemented as spending cuts and €3.5bn as tax hikes. The Greek government's latest proposal for the Troika, was that the financial budget for 2013 should implement the first €7.3bn of spending cuts and €0.5bn of tax hikes; with the remaining part of the austerity package scheduled for implementation in 2014. The official Troika report featuring a new status for the bailout plan and a sustainability analysis of the Greek economy, is expected to get published later in October 2012.^[79] According to earlier official Troika statements, the conclusion of the report will highly depend on the level of ambition and seriousness of the Greek government's measures agreed to in the "austerity package", and also depend on how much progress the government has delivered on implementation of the needed structural reforms and privatisation program.

According to sources involved in the negotiations, the Troika on 2 October had explained to the Greek government, that the following points (all agreed upon in the March 2012 bailout agreement) still had to be complied with, before the withheld €31.5bn capital payment (of which €23bn was earmarked to recapitalisation of banks) would be released:^[80]

• The Greek parliament should pass the needed €13.5 billion austerity package for 2013 and 2014, of which the Troika still needed the government first to deliver a specification of how they would achieve the last amount of €1.5 billion spending cuts for 2013 (mostly related to cuts for the health sector, defence, reform of local authorities and public sector) and €2 billion measures scheduled for 2014 (mostly related to tax hikes).
• The Greek parliament should as a minimum pass the following 4 structural reforms:
  • "Liberalization of so-called closed professions (previously legally protected against competition)."
  • "Deregulation of goods, services and energy markets."
  • "Creation of a new body to manage state procurements."
  • "Merging of all health insurance providers with the National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY)."

In addition to the points above, the Troika also currently discuss with the Greek government how the Labor market reform should be, where the Troika reportedly pushed for lower minimum wages and a 30% reduction of the compensation paid by firms to dismissed employees; with this proposal however being rejected by the Greek government. Another point of disagreement is if the 20,000 civil servants losing their job after a merging and abolition of around 250 state organisations, should be directly laid off from the public sector (recommended by the Troika) or placed in a so-called "labor reserve scheme" at a reduced wage for two years before having their status re-evaluated (preferred by the Greek government).^[80]

On 3 October sources from the Greek Ministry of Finance revealed, that the Troika had also requested the government to frontload the austerity package with measures of €9.3bn in 2013 with the remaining €4.2bn to be implemented in 2014. Reason being, that the Troika expects a slightly worse GDP decline in 2013 compared to the forecast published by the Greek government, and that the economy subsequently would recover faster if the austerity package frontloaded its savings for 2013. According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the first extra €0.6bn of increased savings in 2013 will most likely be found by removing all Christmas, Easter and summer bonus payments for civil servants, equal to €1000 per year for each civil servant.^[81]

According to the source Kathemerini had interviewed, the Troika had also indicated they were willing to accept the large trunk of unspecified savings from structural reforms, if the Greek government were ready to accept the called for frontload of the austerity package. IMF at the same time also called for a decision to liberalise the fuel sector, as their review report of the sector had concluded, that Greeks on a yearly basis currently pay about $1bn more for fuel than they should.^[81]

The Greek government will attempt to sign a final deal with the Troika, about the content and size of the needed "austerity package" and "Fiscal budget 2013", before the scheduled Eurogroup meeting on 8 October.^[82] If the Eurogroup approve the content of the negotiated deal, it will be submitted for a final approval or further consideration by the European head of states at the EU summit on 18 October 2012.^[83] As the exact content of the agreed "austerity package" first needs to be known, before the Troika's "surveillance report" can conduct reliable calculations and reach its conclusion about the sustainbility of Greek economy, it is expected this important report will now only get published in the first half of November.^[84]

On 17 October the Troika ended its review mission on ground in Greece, and released the following statement:^[85]

"The [Greek] authorities and [Troika] staff teams agreed on most of the core measures needed to restore the momentum of reform and pave the way for the completion of the review. Discussions on remaining issues will continue from respective headquarters and through technical representatives in the field with a view to reaching full staff level agreement over the coming days. Furthermore, financing issues will be discussed between the official lenders and Greece."

Responding statements from the Greek government indicated an agreement about core elements of the package indeed had been agreed. There was however still disagreement about the labor market reform, with the Greek government still resisting to conduct direct layoffs or extra wage/pension cuts for public workers. And another outstanding point, was that the Greek government required that the Troika should finance a 2-year delay of the fiscal targets in the bailout plan, to avoid the need for the government also to pass an additional austerity package (beside of the one €13.5bn currently being negotiated about) to reach the initial fiscal targets. It was likewise hoped, that these additional disagreements soon could be settled during additional talks with headquarters.^[86][87]

At the EU summit on 19 October, it was announced the Eurogroup would arrange an extraordinary conference call meeting on 29 October with the purpose to approve the final version of the austerity package, and provided this package subsequently was passed by the Greek parliament before 11 November, the Eurogroup was ready to make the decision on their ordinary meeting at 12 November to accept the release of the earlier withheld bailout funds.^[88]

List of main events from 16 October to 12 November

• 16 Oct: Details for the bank recapitalisation outlined by the new memorandum was presented. The size of the recapitalisation is still a potential €48bn, of which the first €18bn were already injected into the four biggest banks in the first half of 2012.^[89] The remaining recapitalisation will be performed in three stages. At first the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) will immediately inject capital to the banks so they comply with the required 9% capital ratio. At the second stage HFSF shall provide financial tools until the end of January, and at the third stage the permanent capital increases should be covered by the private sector by the end of April 2013. Banks with remaining capital inadequacies shall before mid-June 2013 have a solution implemented. The 3 biggest systemic banks will get the remaining capital amounts covered by HFSF through the issue of common shares (where HFSF in return will pay the banks with EFSF bonds), while smaller banks will have to be either liquidated by HFSF or bought by other banks. The plan is for private shareholders to retain administrative control of the systemic banks, so during the next five years they will have the right at any time to buy back the shares from HFSF.^[90] Apparently the Troika have dropped their previous requirement for the capital ratios to be further increased to 10% by the end of June 2013.
• 19 Oct: A new reform of the tax system is presented, with a flat rate 28% income tax for self-employed and enterprises, and a general 50% reduction in tax exemptions on property transactions, inheritances and parental donations. Starting from January 2013, all property owners will also on a yearly basis have to pay the same single rate for property tax.^[91] The tax-free bonus for families with children will also be abolished, and a ceiling will be introduced on exempted expenditures related to healthcare. Another major change is that all social benefits (previously exempted) will be taxed as salary revenues. For corporations the biggest change is, that the tax-free threshold of €5,000 euros per year will be abolished. All in all, the tax reform is expected to increase the government revenues with €3bn per year.^[92]
• 29 Oct: The Eurogroup working group held and extraordinary meeting to discuss the current debt sustainability in Greece, and potential solutions to improve it. No annonuncements were made in regards of debt sustainability, but it was decided to reject the call from the smallest party in the Greek coalition government (Democratic Left) to open up for a further revision of the already negotiated "labor market reform".^[93]
• 29 Oct: The Greek government signed a new act, that will assign Greek Finance Ministry inspectors to carry out a constant monitoring of public expenditures for all those ministries and state bodies that do not comply with fiscal targets. The act also introduced an automatic mechanism giving the Finance Ministry power immediately to stop and correct excessive expenditures, the moment they are discovered.^[94]
• 30 Oct: Prime minister Antonis Samaras announced the Troika negotiations about the "Midterm fiscal plan 2013–16" and "Labor market reform" had now been successfully concluded, and was a subject for the parliaments approval next week.^[95] The party PASOK, which together with New Democracy represents a parliamentary majority, agreed to support the entire negotiated austerity package and vote yes on both bills.^[96] The third small coalition party Democratic Left, however stated "We are not in agreement with the conclusion of the negotiations",^[97] and as a last resort would now attempt to "force the situation" by asking the eurozone leaders to overrule the Troika negotiators resistance to change essential parts of the "Labor market reform".^[98]
• 30 Oct: The country's privatisation agency revised the previous revenue target from €19bn by the end of 2015, to only €11bn by the end of 2016. It is currently unknown whether or not the €50bn target for 2020 will be kept or also revised. The revenues collected from the privatisation program was in March 2012 forecasted not only to reduce the debt with €50bn, but also to generate an extra €60bn investments from the buyers, resulting in €3bn extra annual tax revenues for the government and the employment of 50,000 jobs; all being equal to an extra yearly GDP growth of 1%. During the first 2.5 years after the first bailout in May 2010, Greece so far only managed to sell public assets worth €1.6bn.^[99]
• 31 Oct: A reform package to pave the road for upcoming privatisations, was narrowly passed in the Greek parliament with 148 votes for and 139 votes against. 30 MPs from the two coalition parties PASOK and Democratic Left submitted abstained votes, as they did not want to approve it, but on the other hand neither wanted to vote directly against a reform package from their own government.^[100]
• 31 Oct: A reform proposal to merge the social security funds of journalists, civil engineers, lawyers and others with the National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY), did not get a majority of votes. But it will be resubmitted for a new vote on 7 November.^[101]
• 31 Oct: The Eurogroup held an extraordinary conference call to discuss the Greek reform progress, and noted significant progress had been made paving the way for a full staff level agreement between the Troika and the Greek government. If certain prior actions were conducted by the Greek authorities in the following days, the Eurogroup would seek to conclude on the revision on the Greek programme at their next ordinary meeting at 12 November.^[102]
• 31 Oct: The Greek government presented a worsened forecast for 2012 and 2013, with real GDP expected to decline respectively with −6.5% and −4.5%, while the deficit-to-GDP will end respectively at −6.6% and −5.2%, and finally the debt-to-GDP ratio is now expected to reach 175.6% in 2012 and 189.1% in 2013.^[103]
• 31 Oct: The Greek government submitted the Midterm fiscal plan for 2013–16 to the parliament, with €18.8bn of austerity measures scheduled for four years. The package is frontloaded, meaning the measures will be implemented with: €9.3bn (2013), €4.1bn (2014), €1.9bn (2015), €2.7bn (2016). The measures include an increase in retirement age from 65 to 67 years, salary and pension cuts, and another round of tax increases. A vote for the plan is scheduled on 7 November, while the parliament will vote on the related 2013 Fiscal budget on 11 November.^[104]
• 01 Nov: Export sector reform with a bucket of 19 measures, was presented by the Greek government. It seeks to reduce administration costs for the export sector with 20% by 2015 (where a reduction of export fees is one of the direct saving measures), and halving the time to process exports through simplified approval procedures (i.e. by introducing the "Single Window" to operate as a one-stop-shop service). The reform is expected to boost the value of exported goods with 10%, while also creating 80,000 extra jobs, and resulting in an extra GDP growth of 1.7%.^[105]
• 06 Nov: The two biggest labour unions started a 48-hour-long general strike, as a protest against the parliaments expected pass of austerity measures and the "Labor market reform", that Greece needed to pass to secure a continued flow of bailout funds from the Troika.^[106]
• 07 Nov: The Greek parliament voted for the new Labor market reform, the proposal for merging various social security funds with the National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY), and the Midterm fiscal plan 2013–16.^[107] The bills were passed as 153 voted for, comprising 126 MPs from New Democracy and 27 MPs from PASOK, while 18 MPs abstained (of which 14 belonged to Democratic Left), and only 128 voted against. Approval of the bills however came at a price, as New Democracy and PASOK had to dismiss respectively 1 MP and 6 MPs (of which 4 had abstained, 1 opted to be absent, and 2 voted against), reducing the combined majority of the two parties to 153. As 14 out of 16 MPs from Democratic Left only abstained and did not vote against the bills, they will continue to be part of the three-party coalition government, and they have pledged to support and vote for the austerity-packed 2013 Fiscal budget on 11 November.^{[108][109][110]}
• 08 Nov: The Eurogroup was gathered for an extraordinary meeting, to continue the discussion on possible solutions to improve the sustainability of Greek debt. Final decisions were as expected postponed to the next ordinary meeting at 12 November.^[111]
• 11 Nov: The Greek parliament was scheduled to vote for the 2013 Fiscal budget.^[107] Ahead of the vote, the party PASOK lost an extra MP having announced he had decided to vote against the party line, thus lowering the tally of PASOK MPs to 26.^[112] As an additional 126 MPs from New Democracy and 14 MPs from Democratic Left were ready to vote supportive for the bill, it was expected to pass with the support of 166 out of 300 MPs.^[113] As 2 of the previously excluded MPs from respectively New Democracy and PASOK unexpectedly decided to back the bill, while 1 MP from Democratic Left was absent, the bill by the end of the day got passed by 167 out of 300 MPs. The vote however resulted in 1 MP from New Democracy, that although voting yes for the overall bill, decided to vote no for the amendment concerning the extra labour market measures. The partly defecting MP from New Democracy was subsequently excluded from the party, lowering its number of MPs to 125, and reducing the combined majority with PASOK to 151 MPs.^[114]
• 11 Nov: A draft version of the almost completed and long-awaited Troika surveillance report gets published, that outlines the results and state for the: Greek economy, reforms, privatisation programme and debt sustainability. Among other things it shows, that the 2-year extension of the bailout programme will cost €32.6bn of extra loans from the Troika (€15bn in 2013–14 and €17.6bn in 2015–16).^[115]
• 12 Nov: Eurogroup and IMF will on the basis of the Troika report and the recently passed laws in the Greek parliament, consider to approve a revised bailout plan. It is rumoured the 2-year extension of the bailout plan will cost the Troika an additional €30bn. To help reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, the Troika currently consider different proposals. The idea of another haircut or debt-write-off has been rejected by the Eurogroup. Instead the Eurogroup consider to offer "Prolonged maturities and lower interest rates on existing loans", and/or a "debt-buy-back" of the remaining privately held Greek government bonds, currently listed with a face value of €63bn (of which €22bn are held by local banks and social security funds), effectively reducing the debt as their current market price is only 1/4 of the face value.^[116] In case of the launch of a debt-buy-back, this would in practical terms mean that the Troika for additional bailout funds should buy all the remaining privately held bonds at a fixed offered price close to the market price; an operation that essentially will also need the acceptance of private investors to sell their Greek government bonds at the offered price.^[117] If all private investors accept a debt-buy-back at 30% of the face value (being the expected average offer price according to Commerzbank),^[118] it would require the Troika to issue €18.9bn of new debt to finance the transaction, resulting in a net debt reduction for Greece at €44.1bn (equal to a debt-to-GDP ratio decline of 23%).

The crucial pass in November of the Labor market reform, Midterm fiscal plan 2013–16 and Fiscal budget 2013, however was only achieved at a high political price, as it resulted in the exclusion of several MPs from the three coalition parties. After the election in June, New Democracy (125) have lost 4 MPs while PASOK (26) lost 7 MPs, and finally Democratic Left (14) decided to freeze out 3 MPs. This mean, that the combined majority of the three-party coalition has been reduced to 165 MPs, and that the combined majority for the two most reform-friendly parties has now been reduced to the lowest possible at 151 MPs.

Approvement by the Hellenic Parliament

On 7 November 2012, amidst mass protests of tens of thousands of people, the Greek parliament narrowly approves another austerity package worth €13.5 billion. Without the vote, the troika has warned, Greece would not receive the next instalment of €31.5 billion in financial aid.^[119] Greece prime minister Antonis Samaras told MPs that this package was "definitely the last",^[120] though some commentators immediately disagreed.^[120]

The latest measures include pension cuts on average between 5% and 15% and an increase of the retirement age from 65 to 67. Wages of civil servants are cut again by up to 20%. Some workers from the public sector will lose as much as 30% of their salaries.^[121]

Eighth Austerity Package

Eighth austerity package – April/July 2013 measures
Hellenic Republic
1. Urgent measures on the application of Laws 4046/2012,. 4093/2012 and 4127/2013 (Law 4152/2013) 2. Income taxation, urgent measures for the implementation of law 4046/2012, of law 4093/2012 and of law 4127/2013 and other provisions. (Law 4172/2013)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	28 April 2013 and 17 July 2013
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The eighth austerity package is part of the countermeasures of the Greek government to counter the Greek government-debt crisis. It includes two successive multi-bill with urgent measures so that Greece to receive the new instalment of the bailout package.

April

The first multi-bill was approved by Greek parliament on 28 April 2013. 168 MPs voted for the bill, 128 voted against and 1 MPs abstained. The law provided mass layoff in the public sector, extension of the working hours for teachers and other provisions.^[122] It also provided a new tax for immovable property that will be defined later.^[123] The teachers reacted to the bill by declaring strikes. However, the government prohibited the right of strike, going ahead to the implementation of Civil mobilization.^[124] With the mobilization of the teachers, the government completed four implementations of Civil mobilization during the last two years.

June

On 17 July 2013, the evening before the arrival of German minister of finance Wolfgang Schäuble to a visit in Athens, the Greek Parliament approved an eighth austerity package to secure payment of its next €2.5 billion credit tranche. The package contains the layoff of another 15,000 public employees, among them high school teachers, school guards and municipal policemen.^[125][126] After the withdrawal of Democratic Left (DIMAR) from the governing coalition in June, it was supported by only 153 of 300 deputies.^[127] The next day, a general ban on demonstrations had been enacted and 4,000 police officers mobilized to avoid larger protests in the Greek capital during Schäuble's visit.^[128]

Ninth Austerity Package

Ninth austerity package – May 2014 measures
Hellenic Republic
Medium-term Fiscal Strategy plan 2015-2018 (Law 4263/2014)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	9 May 2014 (For: 150; Against: 119)
Date assented to	13 May 2014
Date commenced	14 May 2014
Legislative history
Bill published on	30 April 2014
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Committee report	Report of the Standing Committee of Financial Affairs
Status: In force

The ninth austerity package was a fewer painful measures package than the previous measures packages. It was imported by the government on April 2014 and was approved by parliament on 9 May 2014 with 150 votes for and 119 against.^[129][130] It included provisions about Greek economic policy during the four next years. The bill's title was Medium-term Fiscal Strategy plan 2015-2018 and the relevant law is the 4263/2014.

The bill provided freeze of wages and pensions over a period of the next four years, until 2018.^[131] Also it provided cuts public sector's expenses^[132] such as cuts for the expenses of the Ministry of Health among others.^[133] It also provided that the primary surplus in 2014 will be 2.3% GDP (4.19 billion euros) whereas in 2018 will be 5.3% (11.585 billion euros).^[131]

Tenth Austerity Package

Tenth austerity package – July 2015 measures
Hellenic Republic
1. Urgent prerequisites for the negotiation and conclusion of an agreement with the European Stability Mechanism (E.S.M) (Law 4334/2015) 2. Urgent measures for the implementation of Law 4334/2015 (Law 4335/2015)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	1. 15 July 2015 (For: 229; Against: 64; 6 Abstentions) 2. 22 July 2015 (For: 230; Against: 63; 5 Abstentions)
Date assented to	1. 16 July 2015 2. 23 July 2015
Date commenced	1. 16 July 2015 2. 23 July 2015
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

Since late 2014 The Greek economy has been on terminal decline. The main reason was a result of political instability due to the Greek presidential election. The parliament failed to elect a president and the Cabinet of Antonis Samaras collapsed. The election took place on 25 January 2015 and the left-wing party Syriza won the election. The new government tried to follow an anti-austerity politics with whom the European administrative bodies had disagreed. At the first quarter of 2015 the Greek economy returned to the recession.^[134][135] The deterioration of economy and the deficiency of cash forced the Greek government to agree with European institutions to receive a bailout, the Third Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece known as Third Memorandum. This bailout required the Greek parliament to approve a new austerity package.

First set of measures

The first round of measures was approved by Greek parliament on 16 July 2015. The Greek parliament voted the ratification of the eurozone summit statement. The measures include:^[136][137]

• Transfer of many products in the high rate VAT (23%). 13% rate covers fresh food, energy bills, water and hotel stays. 6% rate covers medicines and press.
• Abolition of the VAT discount of 30% for the most touristic Greek islands, after 1 October 2015.
• Rise of tax of solidarity for incomes over €50.000
• Corporation tax rise from 26% to 29% for small companies
• Luxury tax rise
• Rise of health contributions paid by pensioners (6% from 4% )
• End to early retirement by 2022 and a retirement age increase to 67

Second set of measures

The second set of measures voted on 23 July 2015. It's about changes of Code of Civil Procedure.^[138][139]

Eleventh Austerity Package

Eleventh austerity package – August 2015 measures
Hellenic Republic
Ratification of the Financial Assistance Draft Contract by the ESM and provisions for the implementation of the Financing Agreement (Law 4336/2015)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	14 August 2015 (For: 222; Against: 64; 11 abstentions)
Legislative history
Bill published on	13 August 2015
Introduced by	Government of Greece
First reading	13 August 2015
Second reading	13 August 2015
Third reading	14 August 2015
Committee report	Joint Report of the Committees of Finances, Social Affairs, Production and Trade, Public Administration and Justice
Amendments
'Amendment 232/26 On public pensions Amendment 233/27 Judicial procedures, Arrangements for over-indebted citizens
Status: In force

The eleventh austerity package was voted by the Greek Parliament as part of the agreement between the Tsipras Government and the 'quartet' of creditors (the IMF, ECB, ESM and EU) for a third loan to Greece. The law contains two parts, the first being the text of the loan agreement and the second containing the measures agreed to secure the first tranche of the new loan.

It was tabled by the government on 13 August 2015 and was approved by parliament on 14 August 2015 with 222 votes for and 64 against.^[140] It included provisions about Greek economic policy during the three next years. The bill's title was Ratification of the Financial Assistance Draft Contract by the ESM and provisions for the implementation of the Financing Agreement.^[141]

Vote in Parliament

The Government tabled the Bill containing the measures and the loan agreement in the afternoon of August 13 and requested that it be discussed under the extremely urgent Parliamentary procedure. The bill passed the committees on August 13 and was discussed in the plenary session between 2 am and 10 am of August 14. At 6 am, the MPs decided by vote to shorten the discussion, thus the vote was held earlier than envisioned by the Standing Orders regarding extremely urgent procedures, at 10 am.

Measures

The measures passed by this bill were the following:^[142]

• Diesel fuel tax for farmers going from 6 euros per 1,000 liters to 200 euros/1,000 liters from October 1, 2015, and to 330 euros by October 1, 2016.
• Farmers’ income tax to be paid in advance will rise from 27.5 percent to 55 percent.
• Income tax for farmers is set to rise from 13 to 20 percent for 2016 and to 26 percent for 2017.
• Freelancers will be subject to a gradual increase from 55 to 75 percent in advanced tax payments for income earned in 2015, increasing to 100 percent in 2016. The 2 percent tax break for single payments on income tax is also being abolished from January 1, 2015.
• Private education, previously untaxed, will be taxed at 23 percent, including the tutoring schools (frontistiria), but excluding preschools.
• Reduced value-added tax rates for islands are to be abolished completely by the end of 2016, with enforcement staggered across three groups of islands from October 1, 2015 to January 1, 2017.
• Interest on expired debts to the state that are payable in 100 installments is to rise from 3 percent to 5 percent on amounts over 5,000 euros. Amounts below 5,000 euros are not subject to interest provided they meet certain conditions.
• Greece’s shipping industry will also be subject to new tax rises. Among other measures, tonnage tax is to increase by 4 percent annually between 2016 and 2020. A special contribution by foreign cargo carriers will remain in place until 2019.

Twelfth Austerity Package

Twelfth austerity package – October 2015 measures
Hellenic Republic
Measures for the implementation of fiscal targets and structural reforms (Law 4337/2015)
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	16 October 2015 (For: 154; Against: 140)
Legislative history
Bill published on	12 October 2015
Introduced by	Government of Greece
First reading	12 October 2015
Second reading	13 October 2015
Third reading	16 October 2015
Committee report	Joint Report of the Committees of Finances, Social Affairs and Production and Trade
Amendments
Amendment 4/4 Tax investigation statute of limitations extension
Status: In force

Twelfth austerity package (B) – November 2015 measures
Hellenic Republic
Pension regulations, incorporation into Greek law of Directive 2012/27/EE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012, "For energy efficiency, the amending of Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and the repealing of Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC, as amended by Directive 2013/12/EU of the Council of 13 May 2013 "For the adaption of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and the Council for energy efficiency, due to the accession of the Republic of Croatia" and other provisions.
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Legislative history
Bill published on	29 October 2015
Introduced by	Government of Greece
First reading	29 October 2015
Second reading	30 October 2015
Third reading	Pending

The twelfth austerity package was voted by the Greek Parliament as part of the agreement between the Tsipras Government and the 'quartet' of creditors (the IMF, ECB, ESM and EU) for a third loan to Greece. The first round of package passed on 16 October 2015 by 154 votes for and 144 against.^[143]

Measures

The measures passed by this bill were the following:^[144]

• Extent of force of the 3865/2010 Law will now include the public sector.
• Pensions will be calculated as the sum of the basic and contributory pensions.
• The minimum age for pensions is universally raised to 67 retroactively from 1 July 2015.
• Public sector pensioners receiving reduced pension will suffer from a further 10% decrease in their pensions until they reach the universal minimum pension age. Disability pensions are excluded from this provision.
• The status of armed forces personnel with regards to pensions reverts to the 3865/2010 Law regime. New pensioners of that category will have a right to a pension the year they become 61 years old, or after 40 years of service.
• A special fund (ΑΚΑΓΕ) which partly pays for auxiliary pensions is abolished.
• The provisions of the 4331/2015 Law are nullified.
• Non-payment of the OAEE and ETAA social security funds is reinstated as a penal offense.

Thirteenth Austerity Package

Thirteenth austerity package – May 2016 measures
Hellenic Republic
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	1. 8 May 2016 (For: 153; Against: 144) 2. 22 May 2016 (For: 153; Against: 145)
Introduced by	Government of Greece
Status: In force

The thirteenth austerity package is a part of the demanding measures that agreed between Greek government and IMF, EU, ECM for the 86-billion-euro bailout, to last summer.^[145] The package was voted upon in two rounds. The first rounds of measures passed, on Sunday 8 May 2016, by 153 votes in favour to 144 against,^[146] amid demonstrations.^[147]

It includes 5.4 billion euros in pension cuts and taxes reforms. The measures aim to attain savings to meet an agreed 3.5 percent budget surplus target before interest payments in 2018.^[148]

First set of measures

The first rounds of measures mostly comprised pension reform to the tune of 3.6 billions. The measures voted on 8 May 2016 include:^[148][147]

• Cuts in new pensions.
• Reduction the higher pensions
• Increase the insurance contributions

Second set of measures

The second round of measures comprise new taxes to the tune of 1.8 billions and the creation of a contingency spending cuts mechanism (cutter mechanism). The measures voted on 22 May 2016 by 153 votes in favour and 145 votes against.^[149] The tax reform includes:^[150][151]

• Increase VAT to 24 percent
• Higher taxes in all fuels
• A range of new taxes, such as coffee and electronic cigarettes.
• increase in excise taxes on tobacco and ENFIA tax.
• Tax on tourists staying in hotels from 2 stars and up.
• Levy tax in TV subscriptions, landlines and internet broadband connections

Fourteenth Austerity Package

Fourteenth austerity package – May 2017 measures
Hellenic Republic
Territorial extent	Greece
Enacted by	Hellenic Parliament
Date passed	18 May 2017 (For: 153; Against: 128)
Status: In force

The Medium-term Fiscal Strategy Framework 2018–2021 voted on 18 May 2017 introduced amendments of the provisions of the thirteenth austerity package.^[152][153] Extra measures were also voted by the Greek Parliament in order for Greece to be able to hope for a debt deal.^[154] The new measures included more pension cuts and tax changes. The measures were approved by government coalition (Syriza-ANEL) with 153 votes for and 128 against.

The measures

The measures include:^{[155][156][157]}

• further cuts to pensions
• the income tax exception reduces from 8,600 euros down to about 5,700 euros.
• Public stakes reduces through sales of holdings in Greece's PPC electricity utility, railways, Athens' international airport and the Thessaloniki port.

References