Athens, July 10 (IANS) The Syriza parliamentary group met on Friday to discuss the package of proposals submitted by the Greek government on Thursday night by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to creditor institutions, Efe news agency reported.
This reform programme will be voted on by the Parliament on Friday night in effort to win the trust of Greece’s European partners.
Government officials said that the move was intended to demonstrate that the government “has the political will to continue with the implementation of promised reforms”.
“Where we have come, we have come together. Either we continue together or we all leave together,” Tsipras said upon opening the parliamentary debate, asking his ruling Syriza party to support the motion.
The government expects the Eurogroup, on Saturday or Sunday, to approve Thursday’s new package of Greek measures in exchange for a third bailout, estimated at 53.5 billion euros (around $59 billion).
Athens is in dire need of the rescue plan to pay 46 billion euros worth of debt to the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as 7.5 billion euros to pay back loans taken out in recent months by government agencies.
The package includes a series of increases in direct and indirect taxes, social security contributions, and reductions in pensions.
The government aims to save between 0.25 percent and 0.50 percent of the gross domestic product in 2015, and 1 percent on an annual basis starting from 2016 through the criminalisation of early retirement and the gradual increase of the retirement age to 67 years by 2022.