Naftemporiki — The coalition in Greece held firm on Friday during a vote for the latest round of “prior actions” demanded by creditors in order to conclude a second review of the bailout program during a June 15 Eurogroup meeting.
The 153 deputies backing the current government passed amendments freezing pensions until 2022 and defer the mandatory return to collective bargaining, among others.
The freeze on pensions, the most “painful” of the latest austerity measures passed by the Tsipras government, are calculated as translating into a loss of 250 million euros for beneficiaries, given the projected rates of inflation until that year. The measures were part of a total package of 140 prior actions demanded by creditors last month.
Meanwhile a survey by the United Pensioners network, found that the pension most retirees receive doesn’t cover the costs of spending on essentials, such as medications, bills and food.
Some 1.5 million pensioners have annual incomes of less than 4,500 euros, while new cuts to current pension will in 2019 have led to a total loss of income of 70 percent since Greece entered the bailout mechanism in 2010.
74 % of pensioners receive less than 1200 euro a year.
