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Greece's parliament passes fast-track reform package

Thursday, 14 June 2018 8:17 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 14 June 2018 8:20 PM ]

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks during a parliamentary session in Athens on June 14, 2018, as the Greek opposition calls a censure vote against the government in a bid to block a proposed name deal with Macedonia. (Photo by AFP)

Greece's parliament on Thursday (June 14) passed a fast-track reform package to unlock 12 billion euros of bailout funds and wrap up a fourth and final review of its loan program as it as it seeks more debt relief from its official creditors next week.

The legislation includes measures to expedite privatizations in the energy sector and tweaks in real estate taxes. It also outlines measures that will go into effect in the post bailout period such as extra pension cuts in 2019 and a lower tax exempt threshold in 2020.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras defended the latest round of austerity, saying the reforms were tough but necessary to restore the debt-wracked country's credibility.

"I believe that at the end of the day, both history and the people that will judge all of us, and they do judge all of us for our decisions, will decide that we acted correctly," he said during a heated debate on the reforms bill.

The conservative main opposition party leader slammed the bill - which passed 154-144 in Greece's 300-seat parliament - saying the Tsipras government had "drowned the Greek people in taxes."

While lawmakers were debating inside, hundreds of austerity-weary Greeks marched to parliament to demonstrate against the reforms.

One protester, Thanasis Argyris, a pensioner who lives in a working class neighbourhood where property taxes are set to rise, compared the reforms to a guillotine, and said "nothing will remain standing" after the policies implemented by Greece's leftist-led government over the last three years.

(Source: Reuters)

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