PSI to be ratified in Parliament on Thursday
A cabinet meeting decided on Tuesday evening, according to government sources, to have the bill on the PSI ratified at the Parliament Plenum on Thursday under urgent procedures.
Moreover, the cabinet meeting also ratified the bill that will include all the "actions necessary in advance", issues concerning the fiscal measures, the fiscal and tax administration, pensioning and social security clauses and the additional budget, as well as amendments for the research institutions. The specific bill will be ratified on Tuesday under urgent procedures. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, speaking at the cabinet meeting, said that the Eurogroup's agreement and decisions are a "great step" of decisive importance for the country's future, adding that "the approval of the economic programme and the PSI agreement were the main target of economic policy and for this a great deal of work was done". The cabinet meeting focused on the Eurogroup decisions on Greece and was due to approve the basic bill that will be tabled in parliament, under urgent procedures, containing "the central package of requisite actions" for implementation of the new economic programme for Greece agreed with the troika and finalised during a marathon Eurogroup meeting that lasted into the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday. Papademos also expressed his optimism that "if the programme is implemented effectively, in 2013 the problems will be overcome and growth will start gradually".
