



Τhousands of people gathered in Athens and major cities across Greece on Friday to protest against the new round of austerity measures that the Greek government agreed on.

Five hours before the protest organized by PAME, a Greek Communist Party branch, the Greek administration and its international creditors reached an initial agreement on further austerity measures in order to complete the bailout program review.

The new measures include spending cuts on pensions by 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 and raising the tax-free threshold in order to reach revenues equal to 1 percent of GDP in 2020. It is estimated that the government must cut approximately 3.6 billion euros from its spending budget after the measures are implemented.

In Athens, demonstrators gathered at Omonoia Square early in the evening and marched to the Greek Parliament shouting anti-austerity and anti-government slogans.

Leading the rally was Greek Communist Party General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas, who later stated that he hopes “people do not lie in the bargaining between the government and the quartet (of creditors.”

A total of 62 protest rallies took place in cities across Greece on Friday evening.



