Greece greenlights reform law to secure further bailout loans

ATHENS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Greece's parliament passed into law on late Sunday for first time in the country's history mass civil service job cuts as part of the latest reforms requested from international lenders before the release of the next bailout aid installments to Athens.

The multi-bill draft outlining the new policies was endorsed with the support of the three parties participating in the conservative-led coalition government with 168 votes in favor during a vote in the 300-member strong assembly.

The new law opened the way for the layoffs of some 15,000 civil servants by 2015, including 4,000 this year, in an unprecedented step in Greece, since job positions in the public sector had been guaranteed for life constitutionally for decades.

The contentious change aiming to shrink deficits and upgrade civil services was pushed through by the government following an agreement struck with European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors a few weeks ago as part of the austerity and reform program launched in 2010 to resolve the Greek debt crisis.

Furthermore, the omnibus bill foresees the deregulation of more professions and markets and introduces measures to ease the pressure on recession-hit households and entrepreneurs by reducing a property tax by 15 percent and facilitating repayments of debts to tax authorities and social insurance funds in up to 48 installments.

The government hopes that the ratification of the new policies will unlock a total of 8.8 billion euro in rescue loans this May, starting with a 2.3-billion-euro tranche after the Euro Working Group meeting scheduled for this Monday, and strengthen efforts to eventually restore growth in Greece in 2014 after six years in deep recession.

But according to critics of the new legislation protesting outside the parliament on Sunday nights, the fresh policies will only add to the Greek peoples' woes.

Demonstrators participating in the latest rally staged by the umbrella union of civil servants ADEDY and backed up by the main union of private sector employees GSEE forecast a further increase in already record high jobless rates of more than 27 percent of the working force.

Unemployment and poverty have been fuelled by waves of painful wage cuts and tax hikes imposed in return for rescue loans over the past three years under bailout deals reached in order to keep Greece afloat inside the euro zone.

We Recommend:
Xi orders rescuing troops to make every possible effort	Premier: Rescue every person	Condolences continue to flow in after Chinese earthquake
China hits back on US human rights record	China ensures market supplies in quake zone	China stresses prison stability after deadly quake