Greek Government has forwarded its new package of proposals for measures to the country’s creditors, aimed at plugging the fiscal gap up to 2018, Kathimerini reported.
The Finance Ministry’s package of measures to cover the fiscal gap of 1 percent of gross domestic product, or EUR 1.8 billion, by 2018 (as another 2 percent will be covered by income tax and social security reforms), includes mainly tax measures, while there are also some spending cuts.
In this context, the Government is promoting tax increases for unleaded gasoline and natural gas.
However, Energy Minister Panos Skourletis promised there would be no tax hike on diesel.
Other proposals include a levy on pay TV, an increase in taxes on cell phone use, a reduction in defense spending, an increase in revenues from the Single Property Tax, or ENFIA (mainly for large properties), an increase in tobacco taxation, a hike in the car registration tax on imported used cars, and the taxation of Internet use. Sources also say the government is considering imposing a levy on bank checks too.
The target remains striking an agreement on new measures amounting to 2.5-3.5 percent of GDP (including changes in income taxation and the pension system), along with reaching a deal on the management of nonperforming loans and the creation of the new privatizations hyper-fund by this Sunday.