Greek Economic Reforms Socially Oriented, Exclude Radical Measures

Greece's new economic reform program is being implemented, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Nikolaos Voutsis told Sputnik.

STRASBOURG (Sputnik) — The program of reforms being implemented in Greece excludes radical austerity measures in order to avoid escalation of tensions inside the country, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Nikolaos Voutsis told Sputnik.

“We are on a good track in terms of reforming our finances. We are applying reforms after discussions and agreements with our partners and creditors, but we are trying to implement reforms that do not have the smell of blood,” Nikolaos Voutsis said on the sidelines of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Strasbourg.

He added that Athens were holding intense discussions with its creditors to agree on all the aspects of the third memorandum of understanding "because we want these reforms to have a positive social sign."

"We are against the neoliberal reforms that degenerate the social fabric," he pointed out.

The Greek economy has been severely strained for several years due to the country’s multibillion-euro debt, accumulated after the 2008 world financial crisis.

Greece's international creditors signed an agreement with Athens last summer, approving a third bailout package worth about 86 billion euros ($97.3 billion) in exchange for unpopular reforms, including pension cuts and tax hikes.