Mr. Thomsen and his team clearly anxious about the policy shift that the Government attempts to make stressed in the report that:

– greater fiscal adjustment is needed to restore the debt sustainability

– the primary surplus should be maintained above 4% of GDP for many years

– the promises of political leaders for ‘social benefits’ and ‘no new measures’ suggest that the political commitment to the strategy of debt will be tested severely.

– this strategy does not allow for any significant increases in salaries and pensions until the national elections of 2016.

– to achieve the necessary additional fiscal adjustment without further cuts in wages and pensions, which remain high in relation to GDP, is only possible through a dramatic improvement in the efficiency of the public sector.

So, more specifically and essentially the following are included:

– The IMF report is accompanied by a letter signed by Samaras, Stournaras and Provopoulos where the government is committed to take other necessary additional measure, if it is required. This statement is repeated whenever a new disbursement of instalment is required, but the Finance Minister insisted that nor this time any new additional measures are required.

– From the second half of 2014 until the end of 2017 fiscal measures should be applied, ranging from 3 billion to 8.8 billion euros.

– For the second half of 2014 new fiscal measures up to 1.3 billion euros are to be implemented or selected, including:

a) a new system of income tax withholding

b) reducing the maximum expenditure of state budget by 320 million euros and undertaking corrective measures of approximately 220 million euros,

c) reducing the depreciation for Greek enterprises and taxation of sole proprietorships

According to those stated by the IMF, the Greek government has already committed to extend the measure of the special solidarity levy from 2015 onwards.

Also, new measures are planned such as new income tax adjustments, cuts on exemptions from the new property tax, new VAT regulations, new regulations on insurance.

Moreover, the IMF states that a series of “problems” remains unresolved such as the pension system, the changes in the legislative framework for the strikes of workers, new changes to the government payroll and assignment activities of the State to the private sector.