The bailout program must continue with all reforms implemented and there will be no debt writeoff, said Greece’s European partners ahead of the crucial elections on January 25th. Pierre Moskovici, Wolfgang Schäeuble, Jean-Claude Juncker and Christine Lagarde, said essentially the same thing: the borrowed money is taxpayer money and will not be deleted, the Greek budget for 2015 must be balanced, structural reforms must continue in order to back development and employment. These are the three essential principles Greece must abide on the day after the elections and no European country is willing to back down from any of the three. With Greece practically cut off from international markets, it will seek additional loans of 15-20 billion euros to cover the needs until the summer of 2016. Sources close to the finance ministry said that after the latest developments, the fiscal gap will reach 5 billion euros. Brussels, however, has not confirmed this figure. The next government must show the willingness to implement reforms before they try to experiment with changes in the tax system, EU officials said. Without a debt haircut and without reaching the primary surplus target, the next government will be judged mainly on how it will increase revenues and control expenditures. In Brussels they believe that if SYRIZA forms government, it will have three months to prove that they will stop tax evasion, smuggling and “black money”. Otherwise, the new government will resort again to tried policies that are not approved by the troika but popular and easy to use by Greek governments so far.
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