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Greece has proposed an overhaul of its pension system to make
the system viable by increasing social security contributions.
That plan has met strong opposition from farmers who blocked
highways for weeks in protest, and other professional groups.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said the IMF did not doubt
that the pension reform plan was serious but was concerned that
it would fall short of the savings needed.
"It (the IMF) thinks that the figures don't add up for us to
reach (a primary surplus) of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018 and says
that since you have cut down on everything else, where are you
going to find (money) if you don't lower pensions further?"
Tsakalotos told parliament.
Pensions have been cut 11 times since Greece signed its first
bailout in 2010 and Athens cannot lower them further, the
minister said.
He said the economy last year had performed better than
projected under the bailout deal signed up in August. "The
average estimate when we were discussing was for GDP growth of
-2 percent and now we know it will be between -0.4 and -0.7
percent," said Tsakalotos.
The IMF is also pushing EU lenders -- the European Central Bank,
the European Stability Mechanism and the EU Commission -- to
offer Greece more generous debt relief to make its reform
program more sustainable, he said.
Disagreement between IMF and EU lenders over additional reforms
Greece must carry out to achieve its fiscal targets are delaying
the first bailout review Athens desperately needs to open the
way for debt relief talks.
Tsakalotos warned that the delay was having a political and
economic cost and could hamper reforms aimed at bringing the
Greek economy back on track.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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