Samaras: Greece Is Heading Toward The Exit From The Bailout Programs

(Photo credit: PSD - Partido Social Democrata)

(AMNA via capital) - Greece is heading toward recovery and an exit from bailout programmes, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in Athens on Monday. Speaking at an event organised by the Greek-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Samaras appeared confident the country has finally escaped the risk of default and that, through the government’s hard work and the sacrifices of its people, Greece’s image has changed.

     "The recovery in now beginning and a new Greece is emerging," he said, AMNA reported.

The premier promised to continue working without making any concessions and said that his goals were to lead Greece to an exit from the bailout memorandums, to correct injustices and reduce the tax burden.

     "The biggest achievement is that we are now past the point where we might return, there is no going back to the things that hurt us and shamed us," Samaras said.
     "We pushed ahead with structural changes, with great effort and struggle, and proved wrong all doom-mongers who said that Greece would exit the euro,” he added.

According to AMNA, Samaras also referred with particular emphasis to the primary surplus achieved in 2013, stressing its significance.

As he put it, the reform programme was working and economic recovery will begin in 2014: "I am telling the truth and you know it. Yes, the first bailout memorandum was wrong and that’s why we changed it.”

The premier once again targeted main opposition leftist SYRIZA, saying "instead of looking ahead, some are trying to take us back, and they want us back into uncertainty.”

He made it clear that he would disappoint those who wish the government to fail "and to suffer new hard lending conditions" and spoke of insidious forces that want Greece out of Europe.

     "We refute them every day, and soon the progress will be seen in the real economy," Samaras said.

The premier presented the three immediate priorities for the next period, including the goal to return up to 70 percent of the primary surplus to society, noting that for the first time there will be a restoration of wrongs that will be felt by those who are most in need.

Another objective listed by Samaras was a "full assurance of debt sustainability," which he described as crucial to pave the way for investment, while he also placed special emphasis on the success of the Greek Presidency of the European Council.