Greece’s parliament today was to approve a new round of austerity cuts, hoping to secure a pledge of debt relief and loan payment approval by the country’s EU-IMF creditors this month.
Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has a slim majority in parliament sufficient to pass the bill this evening.
Overall, the bill to be approved entails 4.9 billion euros (USD 5.4 billion) in cuts in 2018-2021.
Tsipras grudgingly accepted to legislate another round of pension cuts and lower tax breaks — applicable in 2019 and 2020 respectively — to unlock the cash payment ahead of looming debt repayments in July.
On Wednesday, at least 18,000 people demonstrated in Athens and Thessaloniki in union-sponsored protests against the …
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