Greek Govt Announces Tax Cuts, Wins Confidence Vote

Athens, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jul, 2019 ) :The new centre-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis won a vote of confidence in the Greek national Parliament Monday and announced a series of earlier-than-expected tax cuts.

Mitsotakis' New Democracy party defeated left-wing premier Alexis Tsipras in general elections earlier this month on a promise to end austerity and ease the purse strings.

He garnered 158 of 300 seats to give him a comfortable majority, with all his MPs backing his programme in parliament on Monday after three days of debate.

"We need to give a message of optimism that something is finally changing in this country," Mitsotakis said before the vote late Monday.

"The central challenge for Greece is to produce more wealth and to distribute it in a just manner," he added.

On the campaign trail, Mitsotakis promised to cut a hated property tax 30 percent by 2020 and he told MPs that a first reduction of around 22 percent would be voted on in the coming week and take effect from next month.

From September, the corporate tax rate will be cut to 24 percent from 28 percent, he said.

He also announced the recruitment of some 1,500 police officers to boost security in urban centres while about 2,000 personnel, mostly nurses, will be hired by hospitals.

Massively indebted Greece had to be bailed out three times by the IMF and EU during the financial crisis and Brussels is keeping a sharp eye on the public deficit and the spending promises of the new government.

Mitsotakis told parliament that, after reining in somewhat this year, from 2020 Greece should be able to negotiate more realistic budgets and deficits which will be paid for by increased growth, "not by sacrificing the middle class".