Grécia, esmagada pela troika

The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have asked Greece to pass 2013-2014 budgets in October which eliminate the annual deficit in three key ways:

- The public payroll must come down by at least 1.5 percent of GDP, producing savings of about $3.7bn. This requires laying off or retiring at least 150,000 people.

- Government operating costs must come down by 1 percent of GDP by moving out of leased properties, abolishing hundreds of committees and public entities that produce nothing, and even outsourcing some government functions. The troika says this could produce savings of about  $2.5bn

- Spending on pensions and healthcare must come down by 3 per cent of GDP, producing savings of about $7.5bn.

This package has been presented to the Troika representatives in order to be approved by them so that 31 billion euros of bail-out funds will be released and the Greek state saved from bankruptcy. It includes:

- Cuts in the funding of Ministries, that will make them almost impossible to function properly.

- A slashing in social spending, that includes reductions in family benefits, in special unemployment benefits for seasonal workers and other social benefits, including funding for travel expenses for patients receiving dialysis.

- A new wave of personnel reductions in the public sector, by forcing thousands of civil servants close to retirement age to enter “pre-retirement status” at reduced wages, by not rehiring public sector employees on limited term contracts (e.g. substitute teachers or adjunct faculty), and by reducing the total number of public sector institutions.

- New cuts in pensions and public sector wages. The cuts in pensions will not simply deteriorate the quality of life for senior citizens. They will deprive families of an income that was instrumental in sustaining forms of intergenerational solidarity.

- A massive new wave of privatizations.

- Cuts in health spending, in a period when Greece is very close to a humanitarian crisis. These cuts will jeopardize the ability of many hospitals and clinics to function properly and will lead to a deterioration of the quality of health services and a reduction in total health coverage.

- The reduction of the total number of Universities, University departments and Higher Education Institutions, through a process of “spatial restructuring” of Higher Education.

- The freeze in hiring in all levels of education, mass lay-offs of adjunct faculty, new education budget cuts – including the abolition of the gratis provision of university textbooks –, and increased tuition for graduate courses.

- Reduced funding for culture and the Arts

Isto num pais da EU onde a taxa de desemprego,  após 39 semanas consecutivas de crescimento, atingiu um novo record de 25,4% (1,7 milhões de gregos sem trabalho). E o custo da mão de obra se degrada mês após mês (-11.5% no 1.º trimester 2012).