The Telegraph — Greece has promised not to implement controversial cuts to pensions, putting the debtor nation on a collision course with international lenders just months into a new bail-out programme.
Athens’ left-wing Syriza government said it would not slash expenditure on its main and supplementary pensions as part of a reform plan submitted to international lenders on Monday night.
The reforms have been demanded by lenders in return for the latest release of bail-out cash.
But pensions spending has proven to be the main sticking point for Greece and its Troika of creditors – the European Commision, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund – during nearly a year of tortuous negotiations.
The IMF has pushed hardest for bold cuts to the government’s pensions outlay, leading to Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras demanding that the Fund take no further part in the country’s bail-out deal.
Olga Gerovasili, a Syriza government spokeswoman, said there would be no immediate pension cuts to those who have already retired, and expenditure would begin to rise when the economy grows after 2018.
Instead, Athens has proposed an increase in employee and employer contributions and will reduce the amount people will receive in future pensions by up to 30pc.
Greeks have seen a 40pc fall in their pension provision over the last five years – a shrinkage that has been ruled unconstitutional by the country’s highest administrative court.
