Speaking to MPs, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras admitted to shortcomings in implementing reforms, but he urged international partners to stop undermining reform efforts by discussing a Greek exit from the euro.
Outlining his measures to combat Greece's recession, Samaras said it was difficult to press ahead with reforms when international partners openly discussed a possible Greek exit from the eurozone.
"While we're fighting here, no one should talk about Greece going back to the drachma. It's got to stop," he told Greek MPs, saying that debating such a scenario "undermined" Greek reform efforts.
Adjustment to bailout
Samaras asked EU and IMF creditors to extend a tough debt bailout program by two years so as to ease the pain on the Greek economy, which is struggling with a deep recession.
"We ask for an adjustment," the Greek prime minister said as he presented his government's priorities for the next four years. "We would like an agreement," he added, stressing that the targets of the program were not in question, rather the means.
"We will replace everything that creates unemployment," he explained.
His comments came as inspectors from the EU, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank said they found significant shortcomings in Greek efforts to implement reforms as stipulated in the bailout program.
He promised to speed up privatizations, naming the national railway company as well as "strategic units" of state-owned utilities and seaports and airports as targets. Also on his to-do list were the "closure or merger of several state entities" before the end of the year, he told MPs.
He also said his government would offer a tax amnesty to Greeks who repatriated funds from abroad.
His address to parliament begins more than two days of debate, with a vote of confidence scheduled for Sunday. His three-party coalition is expected to win the vote.
ng/slk (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)
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