AKEL ON THE IMF´s PROPOSALS

 

Statement of Georgios Loucaides, Press Spokesman of AKEL C.C.

 

Press Office of the C.C of AKEL, 12th March 2013, Nicosia

 

AKEL expresses its grave concern about the information that has been published regarding the proposals of the International Monetary Fund to the Ministry of Finance which are within the framework of the well-known recipe for harsh austerity and cuts.

 

More specifically, the IMF is presented as proposing deductions in wages and pensions and huge cuts that will be accompanied by dismissals of thousands of teachers and workers in the health sector.

 

Furthermore, the IMF is reported to be proposing the abolition of the free health and medical care, the curbing of social benefits, the imposition of fees on public universities and many other measures of a neoliberal character.

 

We call on the government to inform the political forces whether the IMF has indeed submitted relevant unacceptable proposals; proposals which – if implemented – will for sure mainly harm Education, Health and social cohesion, whilst at the same time will lead to a significant increase in unemployment and further impoverishment of a great number of people.

 

Taking into account on the one hand the recent statements of the Minister of Finance Mr. Sarris about additional savings of up to I billion Euros and on the other, the Troika’s demand for finding 7.5 billion Euros from national sources, a demand which the press reports point to the government accepting these proposals, we call on the President of the Republic and the government to clarify their own positions on these proposals, if of course the relevant reports are verified.