ECONOMY

No changes to VAT before end of summer, says Varoufakis

There will be no changes to VAT before the end of summer and any changes after that will be anti-recessionary, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Thursday.

Speaking at a conference organized by The Economist, Varoufakis said that he would not sign a deal with lenders that does not make macroeconomic sense.

“If we sign a deal based on lower supplementary pensions and higher VAT in order to receive a bailout tranche and then face the same problems a month later, this is something no one wants,” Varoufakis said.

The minister added that the government was in favor of the General Secretariat of Public Revenues becoming completely autonomous and for anti-poverty programs to continue in the long-term.

Greece would also like to see the European Central Bank agreeing for Athens to delay payments on some 27 billion euros in Greek bonds that it will otherwise be unable to repay, noted Varoufakis. The Greek bonds were part of a batch purchased by the European Central Bank in 2010 and 2011, the minister said.

[Kathimerini, AFP]

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