Greece: Lagarde, IMF, Pensions Reform

Pension system unsustainable at 10% of Greek GDP...


From Yahoo Finance

"According to Lagarde, the current pension system, which costs the equivalent of 10 percent of the Greek economy annually, is not sustainable and should undergo a profound overhaul. In Europe, the average pension ratio is 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, she noted".

From Protothema

YouTube Lagarde Interview (AlphaX News)

Stournaras, Bank of Greece - BoG chief: Pensions must be slashed

Poul Thomsen (IMF) blog - Greece, Towards a Workable Programme

"Why the focus on pension reforms? Despite the pension reforms of 2010 and 2012, Greece’s pension system remains unaffordably generous. For instance, the standard pensions in nominal Euro terms are broadly similar in Greece and Germany, even though Germany—measured by the average wage—is twice as rich as Greece. Add to this that Greeks still retire much earlier than Germans and that Germany is much better at collecting social security contributions. The result is that the Greek budget needs to transfer some 10 percent of GDP to cover the gaping hole in the pension system, compared to a European average of some 2½ percent. Clearly, this is unsustainable".

Greek Reporter article

Farmers clash with police (euronews)

From The Economist

Kathimerini on Pensions Scenarios

The Economist - Why Greeks are protesting over pension reforms again

eKathimerini - "The pension system has been behind Greece’s fiscal derailment and the piling up of large public debt. Therefore, a substantial decrease in annual pension expenditure is important in achieving fiscal consolidation in the medium-to-long run and cutting into the large stock of debt".

Pensions and Farmers, back in 1960:

Demonstration, 1964-1965