Stratoulis: Political will is the implementation of the Thessaloniki program

The Thessaloniki program can be implemented in its entirety, Alternate Minister for Social Insurance Dimitris Stratoulis told Skai Tv on Tuesday morning, noting that SYRIZA's political will is the implementation of the announcements that its leader Alexis Tsipras made during the Thessaloniki Trade Fair last September.

     "Like it or not, we will be judged by that," he said adding the Thessaloniki program is going to be implemented gradually.

Stratoulis said that the government aims to write-off of a big part of the debt since this is the only way to render it sustainable. The Alternate Minister for Social Insurance did not rule out the possibility that the government may have to settle for an intermediate solution.

According to him, pensions are not going to be reduced, while he once again reassured all concerned that social security funds have the necessary funds. According to Stratoulis, the new settlement for overdue debt will yield some 400 million euros.

On the subject of minimum wage, the Minister said that it is going to be gradually restored by 2016 and added that the draft law for collective labor agreements should be tabled in Parliament in the next two weeks.