Municipalities given till year 4144 to pay off debt
Consultancy professional Andreas Drymiotis made quite a revelation in an article published in Sunday’s Kathimerini: According to a decision by three ministers in April 2015, the repayment of the debts three Attica municipal authorities owe to the state and the social security funds – totaling 535 million euros – was extended up to another 2,129 years (i.e. over 21 centuries from today).
The Municipality of Maroussi, northern Athens, will pay off its debts of 56 million euros in 1,991 months, or about 166 years. The City of Piraeus has debts of 10 million that it will pay back in 152 months, or about 13 years. And the Municipality of Fyli, northwestern Attica, will pay back 469 million euros in 24,546 months, or some 2,129 years.
The signatories to this decision were then interior minister Nikos Voutsis (now parliamentary speaker), then alternate finance minister Dimitris Mardas and then labor minister (and currently Interior Minister) Panos Skourletis.
Besides the centuries needed to pay off the debt, the way this will be done is also unprecedented: The decision rules the local authorities will hand the state 5 percent of their allocation from the budget of the Interior Ministry every month.
