The government of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras submitted theirĀ 2014 draft budget to parliament on Thursday, envisaging additional saving to the tune of more than 1 billion euros.
On hopes of emerging from six years of recession next year, Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the government expected a slight primary surplus in the budget.
āFor the first time, the major sacrifices made by the Greek people are paying off, with the first signs of recovery this year,ā he said, adding that Greece might return to financial markets next year for funding.
However, the Spokesperson of European Commission for Economic and Monetary affairs Simon O’Connor declared that creditors did not approve the draft budget of 2014 for Greece.
According to troikaās official statement, the creditors left from Greece without taken any agreement with the Greek authorities but they will return to Athens in December, as the voting on the draft budget will be held on December 7-8 at the Parliament.
Mr. O’Connor underlined the agreement conditions for the approval of the 2013 draft budget from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Therefore, Athens must plug the gap with structural reforms to the social security system, to make better tax collection and public sector cuts.
On Friday, Samaras will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin who said: “very great respect for the absolutely noteworthy” progress made by Athens.
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