Greek government planning more handouts ahead of elections

As the government seeks to bolster its flagging ratings in an election year, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is under pressure to formulate a new package of handouts, without upsetting the country's international creditors, Kathimerini understands.
The first set of measures is expected to be announced before the European Parliament elections at the end of next month and the second set before general elections which are scheduled to take place in October (with speculation that they may be called earlier having died down recently).
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wants a package of measures ready in time for the European elections and proposals made by various government aides exceed 1 billion euros.
However, government officials must overcome any objections by European Commission officials who have estimated that Greek authorities have only about 70 million euros in...