Parliamentary Budget Office

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Monday dismissed officials who have expressed concern over the government's handout policy ahead of the elections - including the head of the European Stability Mechanism, Klaus Regling - as "austerity supporters," although concerns are also being raised by others much closer to home, at the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

Reports that the government may fail to clinch a 1-billion-euro tranche from the country's creditors next month were compounded on Tuesday with a warning from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) concerning the completion of the second post-bailout assessment this month.

The policy of high taxation and levies, such as the solidarity tax and the exorbitant ENFIA property tax that has wrought destruction on the middle class, is taking an unbearable toll on Greek households, according to the latest data published by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR).

Almost 600,000 Greeks were added to the long list of state debtors over the summer, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office, with experts viewing the development as a sign of deterioration for the country's private economy.

The prime minister may be raising the stakes in the clash with opposition parties, while the government still hasn't revealed its "holistic" master plan for growth, but the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) on Monday called for a minimum consensus on a long-term strategic plan that would exceed the mandate of one government, as it states.

Greece's return to the markets on Tuesday constituted a positive sign, but if reforms are not continued and the third bailout review is not swiftly concluded the country risks sliding back into recession, with social tension and more problems in obtaining financing from the markets, the economists of the Parliamentary Budget Office warned on Wednesday.

The Parliamentary Budget Office warned on Tuesday that the government's agreement with the country's creditors amounts to an extension of Greece's austerity that will weigh on the economy as it entails heavier tax burdens and fails to eliminate uncertainty, mainly regarding taxes.

Central banker Yannis Stournaras warned on Monday of the risk of a full reversal of the economy's course as the delays in the completion of the bailout review may "put in doubt all the targets for this year, the fiscal targets, the growth targets and the credit sector targets without exception."

If Greece is to exit its financial crisis, it will require a restructuring of the national debt combined with substantial reforms, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, which warned on Wednesday in its intermediate report on the Greek debt that restructuring alone is not the right recipe.

In its annual report delivered to House Speaker Nikos Voutsis on Friday, the Parliamentary Budget Office issued a clear warning to the government that the economy needs its help if it is to recover.

"Unless uncertainty regarding the course of future policy is eliminated and the governance rules change, the economy will not recover," the report states.