Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble stated that there will not be a partial disbursement and that certain structural reforms in Greece are absolutely essential.
This statement forced the Greek government to take steps towards the implementation of new measures in order for an agreement to be reached within the next two weeks.
Negotiations have reached a crucial point and PM Alexis Tsipras reiterated that Greece's European “partners should make steps”. Nevertheless the developments in Berlin and the fact that the liquidity issue remains incredibly urgent are not promising for the Greek government.
As time constraints remain an issue the Greek government is ready to implement measures within the next too weeks on subjects that an agreement has been reached. After a five hour meeting a Greek official said on Tuesday that “the government's aim is to take new measures without creating further austerity”. Meanwhile the Greek government excluded the possibility of a referendum as good will gesture but PM Tsipras said that the European leaders should contribute for a political solution in order for an agreement to be reached within May. By this statement he wants to transfer the negotiations to a political level paving the way for posing the matter in the EU summit meeting that will take place in Riga on next week.
The Greek Government also intends to proceed to a new pillar of tax legislation covering some pending issues on tax incentives, real estate taxation etc. Greece and its creditors have reached agreement over the following issues:
- A special wealth tax to be levied on Greece's 500 wealthiest tax payers.
- An income tax for revenues above €50,000 – this tax is expected to raise €1.3 billion.
- Increase of luxury tax to 30% on expensive cars, swimming pools, private jets and potentially yachts, and 6% for jewelry, watches and works of art.
- Further taxation on lottery winnings
These bulletins aim to provide an overview of the new regime, plus some other interesting legislative developments to be implemented within the near future; still an agreement has not been reached concerning the VAT. Last but not least the Greek government is about to form a Task Force agency to take steps to implement the measures.