Accepts tough austerity measures to stay in eurozone
An elderly man on a wheelchair waits with other pensioners outside a national bank branch to withdraw a maximum of 60 euros in Athens on Monday. (Photo: AFP)
Athens: Greeks were bracing on Monday for the effects of the tough terms of an agreement that secured the country’s third bailout in five years, with many rejecting them while others said they were necessary to stay in the euro.
Haralambos Rouliskos, a 60-year-old economist who was out walking in Athens, described the deal as “misery, humiliation and slavery”. Katerina Katsaba, a working for a pharmaceutical company, said: “I am not in favour of this deal. I know they (the eurozone creditors) are trying to blackmail us.”But, Katsaba added: “I trust our prime minister — the decisions he’ll take will be for the best interests of all of us.”
The outline deal thrashed out between the 19 eurozone nations in strained overnight talks calls for Greece to push through a range of reforms to secure a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros. Without it, the country’s economy will collapse.
PM Alexis Tsipras will have to rush key measures on tax hikes, pension reforms, and a debt repayment fund through parliament. “It’ld be better not to have a deal than the way it was done because it will be worse for the years to follow,” said Lefteris Paboulidis, who owns a dating service business.
“I would have preferred something else to happen, such as Grexit, where we would have starved in the beginning but dealt with it ourselves,” Ilias, a civil servant, agreed. “The important thing is for the country to be better off, not so much if we stay in Europe or not, that is the last thing to think of,” he said.
( Source : AFP )
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