ATHENS, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The Greek parliament approved on Friday the last prerequisite actions aimed to help conclude the second review of the third Greek bailout ahead of the June 15 Eurogroup meeting.
With the support of all MPs of the Left-led ruling coalition parties, the last set of measures requested by international creditors were ratified with 153 votes in favor in the 300-member strong assembly.
Following Friday's vote, the Greek government expects euro zone finance ministers next week will get Athens the green light for the disbursement of the next aid tranche and "clarity" on the debt issue, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said during the debate.
"We are pressing on with the negotiations so that the final agreement contains a clear solution that gives growth prospects to the country," the minister said.
Tsakalotos argued that clarity on the medium-term debt-relief measures that will be adopted at the end of the current program in 2018 will help send a message to investors that the Greek debt load is sustainable and will pave the way for the country's return to bond markets.
The previous Eurogroup meeting in May ended inconclusively and in case the upcoming meeting will not seal a comprehensive agreement, Athens intends to press the matter during the June 22 EU summit, according to government sources.
"Greece has met the commitments it had made. Its partners in the EU now have a moral and political obligation to provide debt relief," Labor Minister Efi Achtsioglou said addressing the plenum.
Achtsioglou was one of the main architects of the amendments on the pending prerequisites which were included in a draft bill on fishing on Friday.
A key amendment included in Friday's package was a one-year extension of a pensions freeze until 2022 instead of 2021 as originally decided.
Through delaying the start of increasing main pensions by an additional year the Greek officials estimate to save a further 250 million euros (279.7 million U.S. dollars) and manage to post a primary surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2022.
Greek pensioners will lose 3 billion euros in the period 2019-2022, according to cuts in pension expenditure envisaged under the latest pension reforms voted by Greek MPs in May.
Unions of Greek pensioners said there is no further room for austerity cuts. Eight out of ten pensioners in Greece today are struggling to pay electricity bills and their medicines, according to a survey of the Unified Network of Pensioners released on Friday.
According to official data released a few days ago by the Labor Ministry, the average pension in Greece today stands at 722.03 euros per month, while the number of pensioners in the country is 2.6 million persons.
With one quarter of the working force suffering from chronic unemployment, the 52 percent of Greek pensioners are supporting their children and grandchildren, according to another survey of the Unified Network of Pensioners presented in September 2016.
On average, since the start of the debt crisis in late 2009 and the implementation of bailout policies, pensioners have lost up to 50 percent of their income, according to the same survey.
