Tsipras confident pension cuts will not be implemented

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared optimistic on Thursday that the pension cuts slated for January 1 will not be implemented. 

In an interview with Euronews, Tsipras said that the budget for 2019 will be presented to the European Commission on October 15 so that “we can discuss [it] with them.” 

He said he believed that what would prevail would be beneficial to the economy’s pace of growth and the social majority, adding that stopping the cuts and austerity would be beneficial for the economy. 

Tsipras also dismissed criticism that the economy has not been fortified to deal with international market turmoil, saying that the deal with Greece’s lenders that made the country’s debt sustainable “has provided security.”

He said that the 30-billion-euro cash buffer gives Greece the leeway to pick the right moment before 2020 to borrow money from the markets at low interest rates.