Greece now offers what it rejected in the referendum

The referendum on austerity measures held last Sunday in Greece was completely meaningless, as Greece is now offering creditors a list of measures that were rejected in the referendum, reports the Patria News Agency.

Alexis Tsipras's government has requested three-year financial assistance in the amount of 53.5 billion euros, and in return, they are offering a package of reforms, which includes pension savings and tax increases, as creditors had requested in their proposal at the end of last month.

Greece was asked to rebalance its 2015 budget to ensure a surplus of 1 percent, and targeted surpluses for 2016, 2017, and 2018 of 2%, 3%, and 3.5%.

Greece was supposed to implement a VAT system reform, which would ensure an increase in revenue from this basis by 1% of GDP, by introducing a single rate of 23% which would also include restaurants.

An intermediate VAT rate of 13% would apply to basic food products, energy, hotels, and water. Another intermediate rate of 6% would apply to medicines, books, and theaters.

Creditors also requested an increase in the corporate tax rate from 26% to 28%, an increase in the tax on luxury vessels, and the introduction of a tax on television advertising.

Furthermore, Greece was supposed to implement a pension system reform that would make early retirement more difficult and achieve savings of 0.5% of GDP in 2015 and 1% of GDP in 2016, as well as a reform of public sector wages.

Greece was asked to amend laws to prevent tax evasion and generally strengthen tax authorities to ensure better budget revenue collection, writes Index.