Editorial: Benefits with a view to elections

The aim of the benefits announced yesterday by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is clear and specific.

Under pressure after it was revealed that he vacationed last August on a shipowner's yacht, the PM hastily presented his already planned fiscal stimulus package in an effort to change the unfavourable political climate.

The pre-electoral measures are directed toward specific social groups which SYRIZA relies on for support.

The cut in the VAT tax on food and restaurants and on electricity and gas bills as well as an annual bonus of half of a month's pension annually for retirees is targeting a solid group of voters who have turned their back on SYRIZA.

It was to be expected that the government would target pensioners as they comprise one-third of the electorate. It is patently obvious that the bonus for pensioners was given with a view to the ballot box that will be held in less than three weeks (as pensioners will get it for the first time before the elections).

However, salaried employees, who have been hit much more by the crisis, have been excluded from the immediate measures and are expected to get some small benefits or tax breaks in the future.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos at yesterday's news conference tried to justify the mammoth extra primary surplus which substantially exceeds the 3.5 percent of GDP target agreed to with creditors.

Tsakalotos argued that exceeding primary surplus targets was not a political choice with the objective of distributing benefits and handouts.

Still, it is clear that the money for the fiscal package announced yesterday comes mainly from two sources: over-taxation and a steady reduction in public investment.

Given the electoral character of the announced measures the...

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