ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's government on Wednesday outlined the new austerity measures it intends to take over the next two years, a series of painful spending cuts and tax hikes that its international bailout creditors are demanding in exchange for rescue loans.
The country's finance minister also submitted a revised draft budget for 2013, with figures predicting the debt load will increase sharply as the recession deepens into a sixth straight year.
The €13.5 billion ($17.5 billion) worth of cutbacks for 2013-14 include a two-year increase in the retirement age, from the current average of 65, salary and pension cuts and another round of tax increases, including raising taxes for the interest on bank deposits from 10 to 15 percent.
The strain in the governing coalition was evident in a Parliamentary vote Wednesday on a bill to allow the government to privatize public utilities.
The deputy finance minister, however, canceled a scheduled presentation of the budget due to a 24-hour journalists' strike to protest austerity measures.
Government debt is projected to rise to 189.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, above the 182.5 percent predicted in the preliminary draft submitted at the start of October, and up from the 175.6 percent forecast for this year.
The country's finance minister also submitted a revised draft budget for 2013, with figures predicting the debt load will increase sharply as the recession deepens into a sixth straight year.
The €13.5 billion ($17.5 billion) worth of cutbacks for 2013-14 include a two-year increase in the retirement age, from the current average of 65, salary and pension cuts and another round of tax increases, including raising taxes for the interest on bank deposits from 10 to 15 percent.
The strain in the governing coalition was evident in a Parliamentary vote Wednesday on a bill to allow the government to privatize public utilities.
The deputy finance minister, however, canceled a scheduled presentation of the budget due to a 24-hour journalists' strike to protest austerity measures.
Government debt is projected to rise to 189.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, above the 182.5 percent predicted in the preliminary draft submitted at the start of October, and up from the 175.6 percent forecast for this year.
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