Bank of Greece (BoG) Yannis Stournaras steadfastly continued to urge lower taxes and social security contributions, in tandem with lower fiscal targets after 2021, as imperative for a Greek economic recovery.
The influential Greek central banker was one of many high-profile speakers at a second annual economic forum in Delphi over the weekend, the iconic archaeological site where the eponymous oracle and temple were found in antiquity.
Stournaras, a former finance minister, said the annual primary budget surplus goal after 2021 should be lowered to 2 percent of GDP, as opposed to the current creditor-mandated target of 3.5 percent.
He also said an extension of loan maturities and a “normalization” in interest rate payments are necessary.
“We only need a small push on the debt,” he said, pointing to a strategy to keep the country’s debt servicing needs under 15 percent of annual GDP.
Finally, he forecast that the primary budget surplus for 2016 would exceed 2 percent of GDP, as opposed to a target of 0.5 percent.
The previous year witnessed an unprecedented, by Greek standards, “tax tsunami” whereby numerous direct and indirect tax hikes, ranging from increases in income taxes to surcharges on coffee and even vaporizers, were imposed.
