Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos addressed a book presentation in Athens on Monday and took the opportunity to stress the importance of a new pension system.

“Without a new pension system, we cannot have stability,” he said, adding that he had a duty to contribute to a stable economy through income redistribution and a widely expanded tax base. In recent meetings with six finance ministers of the eurozone at the Eurogroup, Tsakalotos had made it clear that Greece cannot tolerate further pension reductions as these had already been cut eleven times.

“Pensions in Greece often correspond to family income,” he explained to his counterparts, because an entire family in Greece may live on a pension.