Posted on 10/02/2011 10:28:23 PM PDT by Deo volente
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece won't meet 2011-2012 deficit targets imposed by international lenders as part of the country's bailout, the Finance Ministry said Sunday.
The country's deficit this year is expected to reach 8.5 percent of gross domestic product, or euro18.69 billion ($25.2 billion) -- higher than the targeted euro17.1 billion ($23.1 billion), which would have been 7.8 percent of GDP, the ministry said.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Rest assured we (meaning the U.S., for you international listeners) are not Greece. We’re Argentina.
Greece is a survivor, likely not so all its inhabitants. Shrinking the teats of a socialist cow is no easy feat. We missed the protesters Sunday but they are still here, and soon will likely become even louder.
from the linked article:
The announcement reflects the government’s frustration with tax collection, which they blame on tax inspectors’ lax performance, and its fear that citizens, angry at seeing their wages shrink and, at the same time, having to pay an increasing amount of one-off taxes, would refuse to pay.
There are already widespread calls not to pay a property surcharge, to be included in the next batch of state electricity company bills, despite the fact that delinquent payers are threatened with having their houses disconnected from the grid. The government hopes that revenue from the property levy will raise about euro2 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2011 and a similar amount in 2012.
...who didn’t see this coming?
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