New Democracy on EuroGroup: Public burdened with huge cost

Opposition party accuses government of missing another chance

New Democracy (ND), Greece’s major opposition party, issued a statement reacting to the decision reached at the EuroGroup meeting, Monday, accusing the government of adopting dilatory tactics for its domestic political audience, but without any substance. The statement stressed that even though a deal was reached regarding the alleviation of the Greek debt through the ESM’s medium-term measures, ND criticised the government for wasting precious time once more, adding that the government had failed to close the second review, while a fiscal gap for 2018 meant the implementation of a package of new harsh austerity measures. “It is confirmed that the fiscal targets will remain high beyond 2018”, which the government agreed to achieve through new measures and the activation of the “cutter” -a mechanism that automatically cuts public spending if the fiscal target is not reached. “Sadly the government has failed once more, binding the country to a very tough course for many years”, the statement read. The statement ends by warning the cost of the Greek government’s delays and incompetence would fall on the shoulders of the Greek public.