Regling sinks talk of easing pension cuts

Despite appearances, the government has actually assured European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Managing Director Klaus Regling that it will not go back on its commitments, the eurozone official revealed on Friday after his meeting with Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

This way the ESM chief indirectly banished the expectations some government officials are cultivating that there will be a way to avert pension cuts - or at least contain them - from January 1, 2019, as according to sources, in his meetings with officials in Athens it has become clear that the commitments agreed on include this measure too, as well as the reduction of the tax discount from January 1, 2020.

Regling acknowledged that "there was some concern in the markets and certain European parliaments" that Athens might not fulfill its pledges. However, he added, after his visit to Athens he has once...