Greece Agrees to Tighten Belt Again in Return for Further Bailout Funds -<br />By NIKI KITSANTONISMAY 2, 2017<br />ATHENS — Greece and its international creditors said on Tuesday<br />that they had reached a preliminary deal allowing the country to receive crucial bailout payments in exchange for promises to raise taxes and to further cut pensions and social spending.<br />If the measures are enacted, eurozone finance ministers — collectively known as the Eurogroup — are expected<br />to approve the disbursement of bailout funds for Athens to make a debt payment that is due in July.<br />Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, said in a statement that the deal was “a very positive development.”<br />“It is time to turn the page on this long and difficult austerity chapter for the Greek people,” he said.<br />As part of the deal announced on Tuesday, Athens agreed to raise the equivalent of 2 percent of gross domestic product by cutting pensions further in 2019,<br />and increasing tax receipts by reducing the income threshold at which taxes must be paid.
