Off the wire
• Weather information for Asia-Pacific cities  • Traffic peaks as Lunar New Year holiday ends  • 1st LD Writethru: Greek reform list arrives in time, "Grexit" not on table: Eurogroup head  • Taiwan stocks end at 87-month high  • Roundup: Nikkei adds 0.74 pct on yen's retreat, market eyes Yellen testimony, Greek reforms  • Egypt acquits top Mubarak-era officials on graft charges  • Cote d'Ivoire's ex-First Lady in court over post-poll violence  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Feb. 24  • Botswana's local equities perform well: report  • Botswana's mobile penetration to hit record high: study  
You are here: 　 Home

Greek gov't presents reform list to Eurogroup for approval, faces reactions within party

Xinhua, February 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Greek government sent on Tuesday the list of proposed economic reforms for approval by the Eurogroup, Greek news agency AMNA reported.

The catalogue of reforms was expected to clear the way for the ratification by national assemblies of last week's deal on the four-month extension to the four-year bailout until a final deal with the new government on the debt crisis is reached.

The reform list was a prerequisite for the review scheduled for April under Friday's deal, so that Athens could count on more financial aid to keep afloat until renegotiating a further debt load relief in the summer.

According to unconfirmed media reports, the anti-bailout Left-led administration of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has proposed policies to combat corruption, smuggling and tax evasion, and to create a fair taxation system.

In addition, in the list of measures signed by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and sent after Monday's deadline set by creditors, the government was said to have promised reforms to reduce bureaucracy and stimulate real economy.

Athens appeared to stick to pre-election promises of giving some breathing space to debt-laden households and enterprises by offering a settlement for overdue debts and moving forward with measures to face the humanitarian crisis.

Several of these measures were not mentioned in Friday's text, triggering gradual reactions by prominent Radical Left SYRIZA party members who saw "too many concessions" and a "failure" to fulfill fundamental promises made to Greek voters a month ago.

A cabinet meeting would be held Tuesday and a SYRIZA parliamentary group gathering and meetings of party bodies were scheduled for the coming hours and days.

The government responded that protesting party members "were not well informed" on the terms of the deal. Tsipras was expected to provide clarification during party meetings.

Member of the European Parliament, Manolis Glezos, a 92-year-old veteran Leftist who is considered as a national hero for ripping a Nazi flag from the Acropolis hill during World War II, asked the Greek people for "forgiveness for participating in the creation of an illusion."

At least other four SYRIZA party deputies have publicly criticized the deal, while famous Greek music composer Mikis Theodorakis, another prominent figure in the Greek Left, also expressed objections. Endi