‘Greeks have nothing left to give’

ATHENS. – Austerity-hit Greeks have nothing left to give, Greek President Karolos Papoulias told the country’s EU-IMF creditors yesterday ahead of a fiscal audit tied to fresh loans.“(Greeks) today have given what they can to overcome the crisis, and this must be respected by Europe,” 84-year-old Papoulias said at a military parade in Thessaloniki honouring Greece’s resistance to fascism.

“The Greek people can give no more . . . this is our message. And they should not think that we will succumb to blackmail. (We) never have,” said Papoulias, who often admonishes the country’s EU-IMF creditors in his speeches.

A team of auditors from Greece’s so-called creditor troika – the European Union, International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank – are to resume an inspection of the country’s bailout reforms early in November. Their report will determine the release of a US$1,38-billion loan instalment from Greece’s outstanding rescue package.

According to the troika’s estimates, Greece is facing a financial shortfall of 10,9 billion euros by 2015, including 4,4 billion euros in 2014. – AFP.