Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos immediately extinguished speculation of yet another “holiday benefit” being doled out by the poll-trailing Tsipras government, speaking hours after a deputy minister referred to an “Easter bonus” for civil servants and pensioners.
Deputy Social Insurances Minister Tassos Petropoulos on Tuesday morning raised eyebrows in Athens – and mostly likely in other European capitals as well – by referring to such welfare handout.
“Many say we’ll provide such an extraordinary benefit, because there’s a portion (of fiscal space) that we can dole out … these decisions are planned centrally and announced by the prime minister”.
In a curt reply to the radio comment by his fellow Cabinet member, Tsakalotos replied to a press question by saying it was the first time he’s heard of such a prospect, adding: “you’ll have to ask Mr. Petropoulos”.
In quick order, government sources also stated that there was no intent to hand out such an “Easter benefit”.
