Greece

Greece needs to press ahead with unfinished economic reforms to cut risks to its recovery in the medium term, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday in its first report […]

Greek authorities said Thursday they will lift within days restrictions on domestic cash withdrawals imposed more than three years ago to prevent a bank run by panicking depositors at the […]

The European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — sent its congratulations to Athens Monday as the government ended years of financial assistance. But there was an important footnote to […]

Euro zone ministers declared the end of the Greek debt crisis early Friday (June 22) agreeing on debt relief and a big cash payout for Greece, part of a broad […]

As Greece prepares to emerge from one of the region’s most wrenching economic periods, its creditors are drawing up plans to ensure it is never a problem for the rest […]

Pressures both at home and overseas hound the Greek Prime Minister as the post-bailout days come closer. The country has been under 8-years worth of a European bailout programme and […]

Greece plans to offer handouts worth 1 billion euros to poor Greeks who have suffered during the seven-year debt crisis after beating its budget targets this year, the government said on Thursday. The country expects to return to nearly 2 percent growth this year and achieve a primary surplus – which excludes debt servicing costs – of 2.2 percent of gross domestic product, outpeforming the 1.75 percent bailout target.

The data breakdown from this year’s tax returns so far confirm what Greece’s finance ministry officials were afraid all along: Declared income from freelancers dropped by 20%, compared to last year.

According to a Kathimerini newspaper report, the tax burden on professionals and freelancers has led to tax evasion. The negative development will not only have an impact on this year’s budget but future budgets too, which has generated concern at the ministry ahead of the third bailout review, especially given the International Monetary Fund’s view that Greece will not be able to achieve the target for a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product from next year.