MacroPolis

The new, and promoted, members of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s cabinet were sworn in on Wednesday after the first, and minimal, reshuffle since New Democracy came to power.

The long-awaited decision on compensating pensioners for retirement pay cuts ruled unconstitutional by Greece’s highest administrative court was unveiled by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Parliament on Wednesday.

There was a slight de-escalation in Greece’s latest stand-off with Turkey in the Aegean over the weekend, following a particularly tense few days for Athens.

Greece’s highest administrative court handed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis a hot potato, in political and fiscal terms, on Tuesday, when it delivered a much-anticipated ruling on backpay for pensioners.

The government is facing a complex landscape in dealing with Greece’s long-standing pensions issue, exacerbated by the latest challenge of declining revenues and an impending back payment ruling.

The fourth stage of the easing of Greece’s lockdown began on Monday, when cafes and restaurants were permitted to welcome sitting customers – another move that the government hopes will ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Research from the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE) has shown that pensions financially support almost half of all households in Greece.

The government is due to submit to Parliament on Monday the pension bill it has been working on for the past few months

The pension bill, which the government put to public consultation last week, will be among the main issues in the political debate this week as SYRIZA seeks to counter New Democracy’s attempt to present the draft law as ushering in the first series of pension increases since the start of the crisis.

Greece’s fifth enhanced surveillance review formally kicked off on Wednesday when the heads of mission started their meetings with the Greek authorities, following a week of preparatory work by the technical teams.