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OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHTH #0246/01 0541408
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 231136Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1617
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0079
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ATHENS 000246 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ECIN EFIN PREL GR
SUBJECT: GREECE: REFORMS, THE PUBLIC RESPONSE, AND POLITICAL 
CONSEQUENCES 
 
REF: A. 10 ATHENS 156; B. 09 ATHENS 2192 
 
------------------- 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) The GoG has begun making public further details on and 
introducing legislation to implement various commitments made in 
its updated Stability and Growth Program (SGP), including in the 
areas of public sector wage cuts, tax reform and pension reform. 
The public has seen this coming, as Greece's economic problems and 
the GoG's credibility gap have headlined the local and 
international media for the past three months.  According to recent 
polls, Greeks are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices and 
back the government.  The  opposition New Democracy (ND) party 
generally supports reforms, but refuses to give PASOK carte 
blanche.  Protests thus far, while disruptive, have been largely 
symbolic and have lacked widespread public support.  If opposition 
to reforms increases, however, the center-left government may face 
increasing tensions between its younger, progressive members, who 
are pressing to take the difficult reform decisions, and older, 
populist elements that want to curry favor with PASOK's traditional 
socialist base.  Brussels and EU capitals are pressing Athens to 
make more budget cuts.  The question is how much more EU-imposed 
austerity Greece can tolerate and whether it balks.  The EU's call 
for additional measures coming out of the February 15 EuroGroup and 
February 16 EcoFin meetings was not received well by the government 
or the public.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
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SPECIFICS ON THE REFORMS 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) In a series of press conferences (see reftel A) and through 
the formal introduction of legislation to Parliament, the Greek 
government publicized this month the first set of measures aimed at 
meeting the deficit targets it has laid out in its updated 
Stability and Growth Program (SGP).  In addition to a series of tax 
hikes (including a hike in the fuel tax; a special tax on big 
businesses and banks; and new taxes on capital gains, off-shore 
companies, and corporate profits) this first set of measures 
includes: 
 
 
 
-- (U) A new incomes policy featuring an across-the-board freeze in 
public sector wages; a 10 percent cut in pay benefits; a freeze in 
all public hiring for the year (with a partial exception in the 
health, education and law enforcement sectors); a 1.5 percent 
increase for public sector pensioners with pensions of up to 2,000 
euro per month; and a ceiling on wages for heads of independent 
authority agencies and chairpersons of public sector enterprises. 
The incomes policy will be passed by the end of February, according 
to the GoG. 
 
 
 
-- (U) A new tax bill that seeks to make the tax system fairer and 
to capture tax avoidance.  The draft bill introduces a new tax 
scale with additional tax brackets starting at 18 percent for 
annual income between 12,000 and 16,000 euro and rising to a 
maximum rate of 40 percent for those declaring incomes above 60,000 
euro per year.  It grants all tax-payers a tax-free allowance of up 
to 12,000 euro annually, provided filers submit receipts for 
purchases of goods and services for a certain percentage of this 
amount, depending on one's income (e.g., in order to claim the 
12,000 euro tax free deduction, one who earns less than 6,000 euro 
need not submit any receipts; one who earns between 6,000 and 
12,000 must submit receipts totaling 10 percent of the tax-free 
allowance; one who earns between 20,000 and 40,000 euro per year 
must submit receipts worth 40 percent of the tax-free allowance, 
etc.).  This measure is meant to work as an incentive to the tax 
payer to request receipts for any purchase or service rendered thus 
cutting down on extensive tax evasion practices by shop keepers and 
service providers.  The draft bill abolishes all other special tax 
exemptions and places all sources of income, including those 
 
ATHENS 00000246  002 OF 004 
 
 
previously taxed under special rates, under the same tax scale. 
Finally, it introduces an annual property tax for real estate 
holdings (those valued at over 400,000 euro), including Church of 
Greece property that historically has enjoyed a tax-exempt status. 
The GoG has set a target of mid-March for passage of this new law. 
 
 
 
 
-- (U) A package of changes to the country's pension system aimed 
at ensuring the system's viability in the coming decades.  The 
pension plan focuses on ending voluntary and early retirement 
schemes by raising the average retirement age by two years (to 63 
by 2015) and by equalizing retirement ages for men and women by 
¶2013.  In order to cut down on administrative expenses and to make 
the pension system more transparent, the GoG's reforms will 
permanently separate pension and healthcare systems, establish a 
single agency to manage pension funds' reserves and assets, and 
change the method of calculating monthly pension payments.  The GoG 
plans to pass pension reform through Parliament by late April or 
early May, following a recently-launched dialogue with the public. 
 
 
 
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SETTING THE STAGE FOR AUSTERITY 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The government's measures have not come as a surprise to 
the public as Greece has faced three months of intense 
international attention that have seen the country's economic 
problems, and indeed the Greek government's credibility, become a 
lead story in newspapers like the New York Times and the Financial 
Times, as well as the favorite topic of conversation in political 
and economic analyst circles.  During this same time period, the 
local media also have focused overwhelmingly on Greece's economic 
crisis.  The stage for the severity of the reforms was set by the 
volley between the GoG and the EU throughout most of December and 
January, in which the GoG started the match by serving up a small 
set of modest measures like a wage freeze for higher salary earners 
(see reftel B), and the EU and markets returned by demanding 
additional and deeper budget cuts.  Prime Minister Papandreou's 
dramatic message to the Greek people on February 2 meant to drive 
home the message that drastic measures were necessary to stop the 
country's course to destruction (see reftel A).  He called on all 
Greeks to participate in a common fight to protect the economy as 
one protects one's own home and family. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Even before all the international attention, developments 
in the real economy did not leave any doubts as to the seriousness 
of the situation.  According to traders' associations and chambers 
of commerce, 10,000 companies and enterprises were forced to close 
in Greece in 2009.  Hundreds of downtown shops in Athens have 
closed, once-crowded cafes and restaurants are half empty, and the 
famous Greek nightlife exists only on weekends. Banks have 
tightened lending standards (credit growth slipped to 4.2 percent 
in December 2009 from 15.9 percent in December 2008), and Greek 
media are full of stories of people scaling back their spending, 
from retail to travel to major purchases like automobiles, and for 
the first time, paying doctors' bills in installments.  The 
official unemployment rate increased to 10.6 percent (November 
2009) from 7.4 percent in 2008, but the Confederation of Greek 
Workers claims that this greatly underestimates the true figure, 
which they claim is closer to 17 percent.  Labor Minister Andreas 
Loverdos revealed in Parliament in mid-January that, although 
Greece's updated SGP projects 9.9 percent unemployment for 2010 and 
10.5 percent for 2011 and 2012, the actual numbers will exceed 20 
percent of the labor force, which could mean as many as one million 
Greeks without a job.  Other indicators also show the depth of the 
economic crisis in the real economy.  Greek exports dropped 17 
percent in 2009, compared to the previous year; industrial 
production dropped 7.6 percent in December 2009, compared with the 
same month in 2008; and building activity fell by 28.1 percent in 
volume in January-November 2009, compared with the corresponding 
period in 2008. 
 
 
 
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THE PUBLIC'S RESPONSE: PESSIMISM, 
 
ATHENS 00000246  003 OF 004 
 
 
RESIGNATION & STRIKES 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) All of these factors have contributed to a general 
feeling that the carefree days of generous salaries and easy 
borrowing have passed, and that the future looks dim and uncertain. 
Already Eurostat estimates that 20 percent of the Greek population 
lives under poverty levels, the highest rate in the Eurozone 
together with Spain.  A European eurobarometer report publicized in 
early February revealed Greeks to be the most displeased Europeans 
regarding social protection in their country, the economic 
situation, the cost of living, and the functioning of public 
administration.  Nonetheless, with the exception of a number of 
labor unions that have announced strikes in coming days -- 
particularly civil servants that will be the group most affected by 
several of the measures announced to date -- and farmers, who 
blocked national roads for weeks asking for more agricultural 
subsidies, public opinion seems to understand the need for 
austerity and backs the government.  The majority of respondents in 
recent opinion polls supports the government's austerity program 
and showed comparatively little support for civil servant strikes 
or farmer protests.  According to results of a weekly poll 
published on February 16 (conducted by polling firm ALCO Company), 
60.7 percent of responders said the measures were in the right 
direction, 65 percent said the measures were fair and necessary 
while 63.7 percent blamed politicians for the serious crisis. 
However, 60.6 percent of the public also feels that the government 
should have acted sooner. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Senior GoG officials have made it clear in meetings with 
Embassy officers that although most Greeks understand that 
sacrifices must be made, such acceptance is dependent upon the 
perception amongst citizens that reforms are socially just, meaning 
that the burden must be shared equally by all, and the special 
benefits of certain groups should not be protected at the cost of 
others.  Civil servants with many special benefits, tax free 
allowances, and other advantages, which were not broadly known to 
the public prior to the GoG announcement that these would be cut 
back, have little public support.  Part of the GoG's strategy is to 
pass the measures through Parliament as quickly as possible in 
order to minimize the lightening-rod effect ongoing debate over the 
measures can create.  The GoG believes that as measures are passed, 
public strikes and protests will begin to die down.  This theory, 
however, is already being put to the test, as each group that faces 
direct consequences of budget cuts and new taxes has begun mounting 
strikes and protests.  Strikes have been called by taxi drivers, 
who are opposed to plans that will change the way they are taxed; 
customs officials, who don't want their pay supplements reduced by 
taxes; public servants who reject a pay freeze, and so on. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
MAIN OPPOSITION: NO BLANK CHECK 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The main political opposition party New Democracy (ND) has 
pledged to support reforms, but has stipulated this does not mean a 
"blank check" for each proposed reform by the PASOK government.  ND 
President Samaras has balanced his general support for the need for 
reforms with criticism that PASOK has not developed quickly enough 
a comprehensive strategy to confront the crisis.  In recent days, 
and in response to the GoG's launch of a Parliamentary probe into 
economic policy during ND's term in office, Samaras has stepped up 
his criticism of the GoG's response to the crisis.  On February 18 
ND offered its own 23-point proposal to address the crisis, focused 
mostly on liberal reforms to the state-centered economy, reducing 
bureaucracy, and stimulating small business.  Nevertheless, Post 
shares the assessment of many of its ND interlocutors that the 
party currently has limited credibility with Greeks and is in no 
shape now to seriously undermine or alter the GoG's program.  Many 
Greeks blame corruption and mismanagement during ND's five years in 
power for getting the country into this dire straight, a view that 
Papandreou and Papakonstantinou have fostered while ignoring waste 
and abuse during the previous almost 20 years of PASOK governments. 
 
ATHENS 00000246  004 OF 004 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
COMMENT: POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES? 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) The EU's call for additional measures coming out of the 
February 15 Euro Group and February 16 EcoFin meetings was not 
received well by the government, the public, or the press.  In a 
rare display of frustration with the EU following the EU Summit, 
the PM and Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou last week 
expressed disappointment with the EU's lack of clarity on a 
financial support package for Greece and made strong statements 
that additional measures would not be necessary.  The PM went so 
far as to say that if Greece were any other country, the IMF would 
already be on the ground with a funded program.  Some media 
commentators stated that the EU is forcing Greece to adopt an 
IMF-style package, but without the accompanying financial support. 
In an interview with Reuters on February 18, the Finance Minister 
said that Greece should resolve its problems, preferably within a 
eurozone context, but he did not rule out seeking IMF assistance. 
That said, he also confirmed that the government is examining 
several scenarios to increase budget revenues, including, among 
others, an additional fuel tax hike that would be borne by all. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) At this point, it appears that most Greeks are willing to 
tighten belts and join the Prime Minister's call for "national 
consensus".  It is important to note, however, that as of now, with 
the exception of the fuel tax increase, most measures have not 
affected the average person's pocketbook.  One question moving 
forward is how much more can and will the people take before 
reaching their breaking point or, more importantly, before 
withdrawing support from the Papandreou government and its 
austerity program.  Protests thus far, while disruptive, have been 
largely symbolic and have lacked widespread public support. 
Indeed, the Papandreou government benefits from the fact that labor 
unions are more sympathetic to PASOK than they are to ND, and the 
strikes probably would be more virulent if ND was still in power. 
If the number and duration of strikes escalates, however, the PASOK 
government is likely to face greater internal party tensions 
between its younger, progressive members or the technocrats, like 
Papakonstantinou, who recognize the need to show the resolve 
necessary to regain credibility with market participants and EU 
partners, and older, populist elements that fear failure to pander 
to PASOK's base will cost the party long-term support.  Greece's EU 
partners so far have pushed "tough love" by pressing the GoG to 
implement more and more austerity.  The question remains how much 
more the EU can pressure Greece to do before the GoG says no more 
and pushes back.  Recent statements by the PM and Finance Minister 
vis-????-vis the IMF may be one attempt to do just that.  END 
COMMENT. 
Speckhard