MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday that there would be no further cuts to pensions as the country underwent an end-of-year bailout review, local media reported.
"This red line is non-negotiable: we will not reduce main pensions for a 12th time," the Kathimerini national newspaper quoted Tsipras as telling his Cabinet.
The prime minister, who campaigned on an anti-austerity platform, argued that the third bailout package, approved by the Eurogroup in the summer, did not mandate pension cuts as it simply called for curbs on spending.
Tsipras said average Greek pensions had been reduced by 45 percent when previous cutbacks were factored into the equation.
"The goal is to complete the first review as soon as possible while keeping in place a safety net for the weakest," Tsipras said.
The Eurozone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) approved the disbursement of 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) to support Greek reforms on Tuesday. This is the third and final tranche to be released to Greece this year, which together amounted to around 21.4 billion euros, or a quarter of the total 86 billion euro bailout package.
