Greek PM announces welfare handouts of 1.4bn euros
Athens, Nov 14 (AFP) Greece will plough 1.4 billion eurosof its fiscal surplus into welfare handouts, Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras has said, as the country emerges from anausterity programme imposed by creditors.
The Greek economy is expected to grow 2.4 per cent in2018, after a series of multi-billion-euro bailouts since2010. The surplus not counting debt payments is expected toreach 3.57 per cent, higher than that mandated by thecountry's creditors.
Tsipras said on television that 720 million euros (USD840 million) would be used as a one-off financial handout forhouseholds earning less than 18,000 euros annually, coveringsome 3.4 million people.
A total of 315 million euros would go for compensatinghealth insurance costs incurred by pensioners, while thedebt-laden electricity provider DEI would get 360 millioneuros to offer cheaper tariffs to poor consumers.
These measures attest to "the political and socialpriorities" of the left-wing government, Tsipras said.
Tsipras had announced a similar measure in December lastyear worth 617 million euros mainly in the form of one-offpayments. (AFP)AJR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.