Reporter at the Financial Times Peter Spiegel has published the document which Greece’s creditors have drafted and submitted to the Eurogroup of finance ministers.
In a nutshell, the gap between creditors' and Greece's proposals has become smaller. What creditors want is:
VAT at 23% for hotels, restaurants & processed food
13% for elect, basic food
6% for pharma
Creditors refuse to accept the Greek plan of lifting the corporation tax rate from 26% to 29%. In their latest proposal, it would rise to 28%.
They are also keeping a firm red line through Athens plan for a one-off 12% tax on all corporate profits over €500,000. But the creditors' plan keeps Mr Tsipras’s suggestion to raise luxury tax on yachts from 10% per cent to 13%.
Here is what Peter says:
Under the plan sent to finance ministers, Athens would ensure the
retirement age is moved to 67 by 2022, much faster that Greece's Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras had sought.
Initially, Athens was pushing for 2036, but Mr Tsipras’ compromise plan submitted on Monday moved that to 2025.
However, there is an important creditor concession in the pension reforms. Creditors have been trying to remove a “solidarity grant” program that provides a top-up bonus to poorer pensioners, know by the Greek acronym EKAS, by 2017 at the latest. Athens had offered 2020. The new plan splits the difference and goes with December 2019.
The EKAS phase-out will start immediately, however, with the wealthiest 20 per cent of the recipients losing the benefit as soon as the law comes into effect.
Some other elements of the Greek initial plan survived, including raising contributions pensioners must make towards healthcare from 4% to 6%.
The Financial Times posted the whole 11-page document here.
