primary surplus

The PM also announced a partnership between three public hospitals with the private sector “'in line with the Swedish model'.

Merkel said that in public administration there has not been sufficient progress, despite the fact that more generally there has been progress on the reform front.

'Much of the out-performance has come from deep cuts in public investment, which would normally be a critical driver for economic growth,' the FT report underlined.

Greece is still up in the air, without direct contact with the markets, and without an ensured path in the final analysis.

The projections for 2019 point to a general government surplus of 3.98 percent, as compared to the 3.5 percent target.

The narrative regarding a “clean exit” and a Greek success story due to the completion of the memorandum in August, was followed by the constant demands of creditors.

Creditors will determine whether the assumptions on which the draft budget is based - a 2.5 percent growth rate and a 3.56 percent primary surplus – can be achieved without resorting to the politically painful pension cuts measure.

Given New Democracy’s insistence that any handouts must not jeopardise fiscal stabilisation, the government wants to draw a line between, “conservative” and “progressive” political forces

Alexis Tsipras is expected to attack New Democracy and Pasok on the grounds that they were the parties which bankrupted Greece

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