English version|03.07.2019 15:55

Tsakalotos: The biggest achievement of the SYRIZA government is the economy

Newsroom

The biggest achievement of the SYRIZA government is the economy, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Wednesday in an interview with CNN Greece, pointing out that after the debt deal, Greece has a 15-year margin to restructure.

Regarding Bank of Greece's forecast that the primary surplus target will not be met, Tsakalotos said that BoG governor Yannis Stournaras will be proved wrong once again.

Asked to name the government's biggest mistake, he said that "one of the biggest mistakes was that we did not place emphasis on a certain part of public administration. Although we have succeeded in protecting the system from future phenomena of corruption, we didn't do enough to cut bureaucracy, for example so that pensions are issued faster, [or to] make citizens' everyday life better."

Regarding ND's programme, Tsakalotos said that the cost of the party's promises exceeds nine billion euros with no explanation about how this money will be found. For this reason, he added, ND is avoiding a debate on policy and Mitsotakis did not go to a debate with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Referring to the Prespes Agreement, Tsakalotos pointed out that it was a very significant success for the government.

Concerning 'the day after' the elections this Sunday, Tsakalotos noted that, regardless of the outcome, SYRIZA must remain a leftist party.

greek economyEuclid Tsakalotos