Government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis on Friday, in statements to private MEGA TV, expressed the government’s content over the results of Thursday’s EU summit. “Yesterday we made an important step, a positive step and we as a government are glad over what happened last night at the EU summit and the so-called seven part meeting. Obviously, it is not the final step,” he underlined. Sakellaridis estimated that “Mr. Varoufakis had sent a letter of reforms to the Eurogroup, and the specific reforms that the Greek government will now send will move precisely in this direction” adding that “they will focus on tax evasion and general tax issues as well as reforms that will have to do with the public administration, transparency, corruption, boosting the business climate, encouraging investments and the administration of justice.” He clarified, however, that “there will be no recessionary measure on this list of reforms” and categorically rejected the imposition of new taxes or a VAT increase in certain categories, saying: “we do not move in this direction.” Basically, he said that “what the partners want from us is to present a concrete plan and timetable within a week and present it to our partners at the Eurogroup.” Asked when funding to Greece will be unlocked, Sakellaridis said: “What we discussed is that the submission of reforms with a clear and detailed manner to the Eurogroup when the date is set will substantially unblock the financing to the Greek economy.” In particular, he referred to the role of technical staff in Athens that will be limited to fact-finding. Finally, he referred to the amount on the humanitarian crisis in Greece to be announced by the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker possibly on Friday. “It is a significant amount that is not linked to the financing of the rest of the Greek economy, it is a separate package for which the European Commission and Juncker are committed that will finance actions and initiatives to address the humanitarian crisis,” he noted. He stated that it is Juncker’s intention to make the announcement within the day and render it immediately applicable while noting that it is a matter of understanding the situation and the social consequences of this policy. (source: ana-mpa)
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