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Survey: 9 out of 10 respondents in Greece say austerity will not end with last bailout’s expiration

By V. Vegiri

[email protected]

Nine out of 10 people surveyed in Greece recently believe that the recently concluded third bailout will not mark an end to austerity policies, assessing that the latter will continue under previously agreed to conditions with the country’s institutional creditors.

Additionally, two out of three respondents believe the country is headed in a wrong direction.

The results were announced by Metron Analysis this week, which conducted the survey for the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Greece’s largest trade union umbrella group, ahead of the opening of the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) over the weekend.

In presenting the survey, GSEE president Yannis Panagopoulos called on the leftist-rightist coalition government to return the lowest monthly wage scale for full-time employment to 751 euros, and not to lower the annual tax-free income threshold in 2019.