Athens needs alternatives to austerity

With the 17 June elections in mind, politicians in Greece are increasingly evoking the possibility of renegotiating the tough austerity measures with creditors. The conservative business paper Naftemporiki writes that Athens can't reject the austerity package without making a counter-proposal: "We never stop hearing that the austerity package must be partially or entirely renegotiated with creditors, without anyone saying specifically how that can be done. ... We can't convince the foreign technocrats to back off on the unpleasant austerity measures if we don't propose comparable measures and a concrete growth plan in return. ... We shouldn't forget that we will have to negotiate with the troika under very difficult conditions after the elections. The next government will have an empty treasury and must request the release of the next tranche in June. Under such conditions this government will not be able to effect a change to the austerity package if the investors don't want it or aren't convinced of its merits."

» full article (external link, Greek)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Panos Kakouris
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, June 5, 2012