Finance ministry says surplus target safe after EU fears of fiscal derailment

Greece's Finance Ministry rushed to assuage concerns over the numerous handouts and tax cuts announced by the government in the run-up to the country's elections, after the European Commission expressed fears over a possible fiscal derailment.
Presenting the country's third enhanced surveillance report on Wednesday, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference the tax cuts and bonuses for pensioners announced last month pose a risk to fiscal targets agreed with eurozone lenders.
"The package is costly and does not go in the right policy direction. It undoes some elements of important program reforms and these new measures pose a risk to achievement of agreed primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP this year and beyond," Dombrovskis said.
Responding to the EU official, finance ministry sources quoted by state-run news agency ANA-MPA said...