Despite claims it is doing everything possible to meet its deficit reduction obligations, Greece’s Minister of Finance admitted that the deficit actually widened for the first nine months of the year. The blame was placed on declining revenues but the introduction of property taxes and other fees earlier in the year is expected to reverse the trend.
Greece continues to rely on a €110 billion (US$150 billion) emergency fund supplied by the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to meet its operational expenses. Payments from this fund are conditional on Greece meeting prescribed “austerity” targets comprised of spending cuts and new revenue generation tools. The fallout over these measures has led to mass protests and a growing sense of despair with some form of controlled default remaining as a possible outcome.
Source: The Canadian Press
