European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling on Friday said the Tsipras government’s plan to allocate a holiday bonus to some 1.6 million Greek pensioners was not previously discussed with creditors.
Regling, who was quoted from Helsinki by Reuters, said Greece was capable of returning to international markets after the conclusion of the ongoing bailout program in August 2018, assuming necessary reforms are implemented.
Along those lines, he added that “within this framework, the announcement by Mr. Tsipras, without have previously discussed it with the institutions, raise a series of questions.”
Officials in Berlin also declared surprise over the leftist Greek government’s “yuletide” benefit for around 60 percent of Greece’s pensioners, money that will ostensibly come from the 2016 primary budget surplus. Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said Brussels was aware of the spending initiative, but not the details.
