Greece making good on pledges
The ECB’s Klaus Masuch (r), the EU’s Servaas Deroose (c) and Poul Thomsen of the IMF cross a street in front of Parliament in Athens yesterday. Greece is making good on the deficit reduction pledges it made to activate a 110-billion-euro package of rescue loans that allowed the country to avoid default, the team said. ‘The program is on track on all of the main dimensions,’ Deroose told reporters. The government is ahead of the deficit reduction target included in the plan for this year and tax increases are boosting revenues, according to the officials. There are also signs that the economy may not shrink as much as expected. ‘I am slightly more optimistic; it’s too early to start changing numbers,’ said Thomsen. ‘There is as much chance it will be less as more,’ he said. The government is also making progress on more long-term economic reforms, such as overhauling the pension system and revamping labor rules, which can help its future finances, they added.
