The Alternate Minister of Finance Giorgos Houliarakis submitted the ambitious budget for 2017 on Monday, which is scheduled to be voted upon in Parliament on Saturday 10 December.
According to the new budget, about 4 billion euros worth of austerity measures will be introduced in 2017, after being approved by the institutions on Sunday evening. The budget will see indirect taxes on households and businesses increase by 2.5 billion euros, while at the same time there is a prediction for a 2.7% GDP growth rate.
The budget provides a 2% GDP primary surplus for 2017 (compared to the 1.75% target outlined in the bailout) and a 1.1% rate in 2016, above the 0.5% rate provided in the bailout. As such, the government expects the public debt to drop to 176.5% GDP in 2017 (from 180.3%), although in absolute numbers in may increase from 315.4 billion to 319.2 billion euros.
Additionally the new budget provides 760 million euros worth of funding for the social solidarity income and a further 300 million euros for healthcare and education needs.
