It is the government’s responsibility towards the country and its people to keep the economy on track after the country exits its adjustment program in 2018 to avoid creating the deficits and debts of the previous decades, the Vice-President of the European Parliament and SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis said on Friday, speaking to radio station “Sto Kokkino”.
“It is a responsibility towards our country and the Greek people to maintain healthy and neat public finances for years to come […] because we saw where the deficits and debts caused by electioneering and scandals of the New Democracy-PASOK governments lead us during the years of fiscal derailment,” he said.
“In a few words, we are exiting the memoranda, not so that we can go wild, to distribute money that does not exist and do what the governments of New Democracy and PASOK did for years, driving us to this painful predicament and huge humiliation for the Greek people, but to establish and guarantee that our country will never go through anything similar again,” he said. “This is the great challenge for us.”
Asked what will happen after the bailout program expires, Papadimoulis said Greece will follow the path of Ireland, Cyprus and Portugal, adding he hoped Greece will get a deal on its debt load which could be accompanied by a pledge to maintain sound finances.
Commenting on the next steps that Greece has to follow, the SYRIZA MEP said the country will have to plan the test foray into the markets and complete the fourth and last program review by June at the latest.
