Galery

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The Greek government is starting, as an alternative measure, an ambitious reform programme to shrink government spending in order to avoid massive lay-offs in the public sector, as insisted on by the supervisory Troika. This was made clear after the meeting of the Ministry of Administrative Reform, attended by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Minister of Administrative Reform Antonis Manitakis and Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras.

The aim is, initially, to decrease the operating expenses of the state by 30%, which would be achieved through the restructuring of all the ministries with no exception. This would be done via assessment of their structures, massive closures and mergers of institutions, closing of all commissions in which payments are received, as well as economy of resources from the rent expenses of the services.

According to the government, the shrinking of the public sector through saving resources and decreasing public expenses by 30% could be an "equivalent measure", that could help to avoid laying off state employees.

In a statement, the prime-minister reiteration his intention to personally undertake the task of monitoring the administrative reform and the assessment of the public administration, to which the government attaches a lot of importance on the way towards fiscal recovery. "The aim is to achieve results regarding better service for the citizens, economy of resources and the struggle with bureaucracy", emphasized Samaras.

As the Minister of Administrative Reform Antonis Manitakis shared, in the following days Prime Minister Samaras will send a letter to all the ministries, in which prominence will be given to the importance of the administrative reform concerning the economy, business and the citizens, and the ministers will be required to speed up the respective procedures.

In addition, as became clear from Manitakis's statement, another aim of the government is to hasten the procedures of the services and employees' assessment in the state sector in order to achieve instant results in the state structures' decrease by 30%, which would also lead to the respective decrease in the state expenses.

''I expect changes in the administration", said the Prime Minister at the beginning of the meeting, and stressed that in the state administration way should be made for the most capable and the most prepared.

"The Financial Ministry also anchors its hopes on the administrative reform", noted, in turn, Minister Stournaras.