Greece’s coalition government said Wednesday that it agreed on a basic blueprint for what spending to cut over the next two years, for the second bailout agreement. Cuts must equal 11.5 billion euros ($14.1 billion), and the three coalition leaders need to meet again to finalize the plan.
Yannis Stournaras, the country’s finance minister, noted that “there is a long road ahead” to finalize the cuts, reported the Athens News.
He added that leaders of the three parties, Pasok, the Democratic Left, and the New Democracy, “agreed on everything” in the plan.
Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said the three agreed that Greece will request an extension to its fiscal adjustment period, and other aspects, including structural reforms and privatization, would have to be implemented quicker, the Ekathimerini newspaper reported. Venizelos said it must be quick and credible in its decision-making.
Greece has to make 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) of savings by the end of the year, according to the publication.
Venizelos also told the newspaper that there would be no “horizontal measures,” meaning no across-the-board tax hikes or cuts in the 2013 to 2014 austerity package.
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