The Greek government will bring social security costs for workers below the European Union average for the first time in July when it cuts contributions to the pension and health-care systems, Labor Minister Ioannis Vroutsis said.
Social security contributions will fall by 3.9 percent bringing the total reduction since 2012 to 5 percent, Vroutsis said in an interview in Athens yesterday. The move is part of a suite of measures designed to boost Greece’s competitiveness and attract foreign investment as the country emerges from a six-year recession, he said.
“The reduction of social contributions alone will create about 30,000 new jobs in the next two years,” Vroutsis said. “We have done almost everything required to reform the Greek labor market.”
As Ireland, Spain and, this week, Portugal emerge from the strictures of their bailout programs, Greek officials are trying to show they can continue the work of repairing their economy as the financial pressure eases. After easing rules on firing, lowering compensation for dismissals and overhauling collective bargaining rules, the government ended its four-year exile from international markets last month, issuing 3 billion euros ($4.2 billion) of bonds at an auction that was almost seven times oversubscribed.
Source:Bloomberg
