Alexis Tsipras Promised to Cut Taxes on Food and Energy

VAT on food in Greece will be reduced from 24% to 13%, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. The energy tax will also be halved, with 13% going to become 6, the Prime Minister promised.

Money for tax cuts will be taken from overcharging tax collection, which is 1.14 billion euros.

Tsipras announced at a press conference on Tuesday that savings and better-than-expected economic outcomes would allow Greece to redeem 3.6 billion euros of "expensive" loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Before the European and local elections on May 26 and the national elections at the end of the year, Tsipras announced a cut in taxes on food and energy "so the Greeks will feel as quick as possible ... economic recovery."

Tsipras struggles to catch up with the main opposition conservative New Democracy party, which leads into polls.