“We are not asking Greece to make additional spending cuts,”
Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said on Friday, clarifying the conclusions
of a Commission communication to EU finance ministers.
The communication said Greece would meet the 2010 deficit
target of 8 percent of GDP if it maintained very tight expenditure control “leading
to total state expenditure of 4 billion euros below plans to offset revenue
shortfall and expenditure slippages in other government sectors.” Altafaj
clarified that the 4 billion euros in additional savings were already an
existing commitment by the Greek government, and that the government had
already over-performed on that commitment in the first six months of this year.
“The ceiling for current cash spending in 2010 stands at 67
billion euros,” Altafaj said, adding that actual cash spending should not
exceed 64 billion euros for the overall 2010 deficit target to be met.
In the January-June period, primary budget spending was
already 5.6 billion euros lower than plan, a Commission report on Greek
reforms, released on Friday, showed.
“Should this over performance continue in the following
months, current spending will over-perform on an annual basis, by some 4
billion, without additional measures,” Altafaj said.
“The authorities however, should stand ready for possible
cuts, in case significant revenue shortfalls occur,” he added.
