Budget relies on two scenarios

The first draft of the 2019 state budget tabled in Parliament on Monday by the Finance Ministry was based two alternative scenarios - one with the planned pension cuts along with offsetting measures, and one without them, apparently trying both to appease its creditors and please its voters.

The decision on the burning issue of the reduction of pensions by 1 percent of gross domestic product as of January 1, 2019 will be made in December by the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, but the ministry spells out the government's intention to avoid the cuts. If the cuts are implemented, the ministry projects a primary surplus of 4.14 percent of GDP, otherwise revenues will exceed expenditure (not including debt interest) by 3.56 percent of GDP.

Greece's creditors quickly voiced their satisfaction with the double scenario in the budget, indicating that they had largely...