BBC: Greek parliament approves austere 2016 budget

06 December 2015

Greece's parliament has narrowly approved the 2016 budget that includes sharp spending cuts and some tax increases amid economic recession.

"This budget is a difficult task for a government that wants to leave its mark with social justice," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers.

He agreed to a batch of economic reforms in August to secure a euro zone bailout of up to €86bn ($93bn; £62bn).

His leftist-led government has been under pressure to deliver tangible benefits to its poorest citizens since the agreement.

The budget makes €5.7bn in public spending cuts including €1.8bn from pensions and €500m from defence. It also includes tax increases of just over €2bn.

Despite the cuts, the budget will still have a greater deficit than the 2015 budget.

Full article on BBC


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