Greek State Minister for Coordinating Government Operations Alekos Flambouraris on Thursday in statements to Mega TV appeared reassuring on the liquidity issue. “There is a liquidity issue but we believe that in the immediate future, with the measures we will launch, there will be liquidity,” he said and referred specifically to taxation and fighting tax evasion and the non-payment of social security contributions. Regarding the repayment of the IMF tranche, he noted: “If we have not raised 1.4 and we have raised 0.8, we will ask for a two month extension” and added “there will not be a credit event; this is neither to their interest nor to ours.” On the VAT, he reckoned there was no need for an increase since, he noted, such a move does not generate revenues. According to the minister, the 100 installment settlement will bring revenues and will not cause a financial problem. “The institutions cannot say No,” he claimed and clarified that the relevant regulation will be tabled just as it was announced with the addition of a provision for a bonus to those “who have been paying properly up until now.” On the so-called “objective” property values, he noted “we cannot have a horizontal reduction, there has to be a zoning” and “this will take a while.” On the restitution of the tax-free threshold to 12,000 euros he said: “This needs at least three months, I don’t expect it any earlier than May or June.” He said the bill on the large property tax which will replace the Uniform Real Estate Ownership Tax (ENFIA) is already being processed and called on citizens to pay the last ENFIA tranche. On the long meeting that SYRIZA’s parliamentary group held on Wednesday, he said it was a very productive one, during which support and criticism were expressed. He said that 18 deputies either opposed to the agreement with the lenders or expressed deep concerns; however, 5 MPs voted against it and 5 cast a blank vote. Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis was among those who cast a blank vote, Flambouraris said, while the President of the Parliament Zoi Konstantopoulou expressed her disagreement. He said it was quite reasonable to have disagreements over such a text “which was not clear and was not 100 percent along SYRIZA’s lines.” Asked if the agreement will pass through the Parliament, he responded this has not been decided yet. His own view, however, was that the agreement should be submitted to the Parliament. (source: ana-mpa)
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