ND wants part of surplus spent on social policies, tax cuts
Greece’s conservative opposition has proposed that the left-led government spends part of the 2016 primary budget surplus on social policies and tax cuts.
According to an amendment submitted to Parliament by 13 New Democracy MPs on Wednesday, the money could be used to provide free nursery care for all children, to reduce the VAT on agricultural products from 24 percent to 13 percent, to scrap the special consumption tax on wine, and to slash the ENFIA property tax by 20 percent.
The cost of the measures is estimated at 865 million euros, or 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, the opposition said.
The MPs said that the package of measures is in line with the forecasts of the third bailout agreement and it would not jeopardize fiscal targets for next year.
In a related development, New Democracy on Wednesday released three videos attacking the government over the impact of the new austerity measures on pensioners, salaried workers and self-employed professionals. The opposition has said it will not vote the measures.
