ATHENS, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government submitted the state budget draft for 2019 on Monday night at the Greek Parliament without including the new pension cuts that were agreed with international creditors under the last bailout program which expired this August.
There was no need to slash the pensions from January 1 next year in order to achieve the agreed primary surplus of 3.5 percent GDP for 2019, the Finance Ministry argued in an e-mailed press statement.
The satisfactory financial performance of the years 2015-2018 and the improvement of the macroeconomics of the Greek economy give the space to the government to not make any new cuts to the pensions and continue supporting the income of the households, the ministry said.
In addition, the draft includes reductions of taxes and contributions to social insurance funds.
Although Greece exited the bailouts which had been implemented since 2010 to avert a default, the country has undertaken commitments to achieve certain goals in coming years.
The budget draft which was tabled foresees 2.1 percent GDP growth for this year and 2.5 percent in 2019, while unemployment rate is projected to fall to 16.7 percent next year from 18.3 percent this year.
