Orders for hikes and not just cuts

The Troika has asked the government for a full implementation of the new tax measures in order to save 7bil euros that are needed by the end of 2011.

According to information, the auditors are deeply concerned by the data relating to the assessment and collection of income tax in 2011, and foresee that the Finance ministries efforts and assurances about cuts in government spending are not enough.

As it appears, 4 out of 10 tax clearances, which have already been sent to individuals by the ministry, require the government to refund them, rather than collect additional taxes. For this reason, the final governmental draft for measures of direct performance will be issued this weekend.

Until Monday however, when IMF representative Poul Thomsen is expected to return to Athens from Lisbon (where he went to deal with the Portuguese memorandum), the meetings will be of “reduced gravity”.

The envoys of the auditors are expected to reveal at the beginning of next week whether the additional measures are deemed as satisfactory or not, in order to grant Greece the fifth installment, but also to create the foundations for a new loan that will cover the additional needs for 2012-2013.