Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis dismissed press reports of an imminent VAT hike for Greece’s so-called luxury islands.

“There is no such discussion,” Varoufakis told reporters outside Parliament on Thursday.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of a tax on “luxury accommodation”, clarifying that this did not include three-star hotels. He predicted that there would be minimal reactions to such a measure — only hours before such heated reactions did, indeed, surface.

Two key issues – known as ‘red lines’ in the leftist government’s vernacular – where the Tsipras government has pledged not to back down are supplementary pension cuts and further social security system reform. Varoufakis said discussions on these issues won’t be broached until June as part of talks on a ‘grand agreement’ with creditors.