Troika chiefs emerged wordless from a two-hour meeting with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who simply noted the officials had sought clarifications on a €13.5-billion austerity package proposed by the coalition government. The cuts in the draft budget for 2013 include €3.8 billion to pensions, €1.1 billion to civil servants’ salaries, around €800 million to social welfare benefits and €1.2 billion to state spending on health, defence and local authority spending.
The draft, which will be significantly revised, foresees the economy contracting by 6.5 per cent this year and 3.8 per cent next year while unemployment is set to rise to 24.7 per cent from 23.5 per cent this year. It also predicts a primary surplus of 1.1 per cent of gross domestic product next year, following a row of deficits since 2002.
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