Greek municipal workers hold demo

Greek municipal workers have held a demonstration in the capital Athens to express their outrage at austerity measures imposed by the government.

The protest took place on Thursday outside the country™s finance ministry in Athens where protesters chanted slogans against Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras whose remarks caused anger among people.

The finance minister said last week that œI know what it’s like to live on 500 euros (a month). There are people in my family who live on very little money. My mother, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law. I know very well what this means.”

The protesters said the austerity measures do not affect politicians, saying Greeks including workers and pensioners are the main targets of the unpopular measures.

Greece was severely hit by recession in 2008 due to fiscal mismanagement resulting in tax rises and spending cuts.

Greece™s statistics service ELSTAT said on October 10 that 1.36 million people were unemployed in July, up ten percent from a year earlier.

The country™s jobless rate was over twice the eurozone™s average of 12 percent in August.

The Greek government expects some growth in the job market in 2014. However, Athens forecasts unemployment to stay high even then, at an average of 26 percent.

The country has witnessed three years of austerity policies imposed by the government in a bid to win bailout loans from international creditors, including the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.

Nearly one in every four Greek workers is unemployed; banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been severely slashed.

The European financial crisis began in early 2008. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered massive demonstrations in many European countries.

MAM/MAM