Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras reportedly will head to Berlin this week to give German Chancellor Angela Merkel an update on the progress of economic reforms and more austerity measures that she insisted upon in return for backing continued aid.
His visit will come three months after she came to to Athens to show her support for his efforts to impose more pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions, as angry Greeks protested in the streets, far from where the two were meeting.
Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the pair are expected to use the opportunity to review Greece’ progress in implementing tough reforms demanded by the country’s international lenders in return for continued bailouts. He said that the Greek Premier was coming to take part in a private economic conference organized by German newspaper Die Welt in which Merkel is also due to participate.
The trip will take place as the Greek Parliament is set to vote on a new tax plan that hits hard at workers and the middle class in a bid to raise 2.5 billion euros ($3.26 billion) one of the conditions set by the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) in return for a new series of 52.5 billion euros ($69 billion) in rescue loans.
In preparation, Samaras met with Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras, who has been his point man in negotiations with Greece’s lenders and economic matters. The Eurozone of the 17 countries using the euro will meet on Jan. 21 to assess Greece’s reform progress once again before deciding whether to release the next installment of rescue loans, worth 9.2 billion euros ($12 billion).
Stournaras said it’s critical for the tax bill to be approved by Jan. 11, but Samaras’ coalition government, which includes his New Democracy Conservatives, the PASOK Socialists and the tiny Democratic Left, controls the body and the bill is expected to pass.
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