Greek Pensions Hot Potato Puts Tsipras in Bailout Tight Spot
BySotiris Nikasand Antonis GalanopoulosAthens resident Spiros is among the reasons Greece is having a hard time reaching a bailout accord with creditors.
The 82-year-old is one of about 2.7 million pensioners likely to face a cut in monthly payments for the 12th time since the debt crisis in 2010, as part of the measures required for the disbursement of the next tranche of emergency loans. The government of Alexis Tsipras wants any new cuts in pensions to be phased in gradually and not be put in place from 2019 — an election year — as creditors demand. It says it wants to protect pensioners like Spiros, who account for more than a quarter of the country’s 10 million population and are already bracing for higher health insurance costs and a lower income-tax-free threshold.
Read more at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-04/greek-pensions-hot-potato-puts-tsipras-in-tight-spot-on-bailout
