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Greece's cabinet has approved a sweeping new austerity programme, the third in as many months, in a drive to rein in a bulging budget deficit and secure European financial support.
A government spokesman said that the move would yield $6.5bn, half of which would come from spending cuts and another 50 per cent from tax increases.
The measures include increasing value added tax by 2 percentage points to 21 per cent, cutting public sector salary bonuses by 30 per cent, increasing tax on fuel, tobacco and alcohol, as well as freezing state-funded pensions this year.
Al Jazeera English - Europe - Greece announces new austerity plan